Sue Mi Terry (born ) is a former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

officer, researcher, and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A former intelligence analyst specializing in East Asia, Terry is regularly quoted in print and web media as an expert on international politics involving North Korea, South Korea and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 2021, she became director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Wilson Center, succeeding

Jean H. Lee Jean H. Lee is an American journalist. She previously served as the Associated Press's Pyongyang bureau chief and was the director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Wilson Center. Biography ...

Early life and education

Terry was born in Seoul. After her father's death due to

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

when she was in the fourth grade, she moved with her mother to the United States at age 12. She was raised in Hawaii and Virginia. Terry received her B.A. in political science from New York University in 1993. In 2001, she earned her Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Career

She worked at the Central Intelligence Agency, the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

, the National Intelligence Council and the

Weatherhead East Asian Institute The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) at Columbia University is a community of scholars affiliated with Columbia's schools, bringing together over 50 full-time faculty, a diverse group of visiting scholars and professionals, and students from ...

at Columbia University. From 2001 to 2008, Terry was a senior analyst on Korean issues for the CIA, where she produced hundreds of intelligence assessments. From 2008 to 2009, Terry was director of Korea, Japan and oceanic affairs in the National Security Council under Presidents

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and Barack Obama. In this capacity, she formulated, coordinated, and implemented U.S. government policy toward Korea and Japan as well as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, New Zealand, and Oceania. She was a National Intelligence Fellow in the David Rockefeller Studies Program of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

in New York from 2010 to 2011. Since leaving the government, Terry served as a Senior Research Fellow at Columbia University's

from 2011 to 2015 and as Senior Advisor for Korea at Bower Group Asia from 2015 to 2017. Terry has received numerous awards for her leadership and mission support, including the 2008 CIA Foreign Language Award. In 2017 she became a senior fellow for the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Terry has been cited as an expert on topics involving North Korea, such as the likelihood of North Korean defections during and after the Olympics, whether US election results will affect relations with North Korea, the probabilities for success of summit meetings between state leaders in the US and North Korea, the impact of postponing or canceling joint military exercises, the effects of United Nations actions regarding human rights in North Korea and whether North Korea will attack South Korea.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Sue Mi 1970s births Living people New York University alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni People from Seoul Analysts of the Central Intelligence Agency United States National Security Council staffers