National Assembly Intelligence Committee Receives Report from NIS... "No Damage to ROK-US Alliance Despite Sumi Terry Indictment"

Cho Tae-yong, Director of the National Intelligence Service, Debuts in the National Assembly
Ruling Party: "Sumiteri, Violation of Parapolice Law, Not Espionage"
Opposition: "During US Presidential Election Period... Damaging South Korea's Image"
Both Ruling and Opposition Parties Agree on the Need for Korean-style Parapolice Law Legislation

The National Assembly Intelligence Committee received a briefing from the National Intelligence Service (NIS). Director Cho Tae-yong attended a National Assembly session for the first time since his appointment, excluding his confirmation hearing. During the current issues inquiry, there was a notable difference in stance between ruling and opposition party members regarding the indictment of Sumi Terry, a senior fellow at the American Council on Foreign Relations, in the United States.

Cho Tae-yong, Director of the National Intelligence Service, is attending the full meeting of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee held at the National Assembly on the 29th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Lee Seong-gwon and Park Seon-won, the ruling and opposition party secretaries of the Intelligence Committee, briefly explained the contents reported by the NIS to reporters after the first round of questioning on the afternoon of the 29th. Park, affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "The most contentious issue was the Sumi Terry case," adding, "Overall, members from both ruling and opposition parties agreed that the Sumi Terry case did not reach a level that would jeopardize the alliance that collects very important information from the United States." He further explained, "They recognized that it was not espionage but a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and acknowledged her activities as an 'opinion leader' in the U.S. as a Korea expert."

Lee, from the People Power Party, also emphasized, "We received a clear response from the NIS that there was absolutely no damage to the Korea-U.S. alliance due to the Sumi Terry case, and no issues in security cooperation." He continued, "It is not appropriate to directly link this case to security between the two countries," and added, "If there were problems in security cooperation due to the Sumi Terry case, cooperation would have been reduced or terminated, but Director Cho Tae-yong emphasized that there is no such point at all." The U.S. Southern District of New York indicted Sumi Terry, a senior fellow at the American Council on Foreign Relations, on the 16th (local time) for violating the FARA. She is accused of working for Korea without notifying the government.

Shin Sung-beom, Chairman of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, is speaking at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee held at the National Assembly on the 29th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Park said, "However, it was mentioned that the indictment was notified only after the case was filed," and added, "Opposition party members pointed out that the case escalated because there was no sensitive reaction to prior warnings from the FBI." Furthermore, he noted, "There were concerns about the damage to South Korea's image as it was caught and indicted as a test case during the very sensitive U.S. presidential election period," and "There was also criticism questioning whether there might be some issues with the previously stated strong Korea-U.S. alliance."

Regarding the necessity of enacting a Korean-style FARA, both ruling and opposition parties expressed a unified voice. Lee mentioned, "The NIS first reported the need for enacting a Korean-style FARA as an opinion on institutional improvement." Park added, "I have already proposed a revision to the Criminal Act," and stated, "There is currently no difference in stance between the ruling and opposition parties on this matter."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.