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A former U.S. diplomat appeared in court in South Korea Friday facing charges of defamation against President Lee Jae Myung for comments made on American soil in a case that has left him stranded in the Asian country.
Morse Tan’s troubles began after he delivered a talk in June 2025 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and responded to a question where he brought up the South Korean leader’s alleged involvement in a crime as an adolescent.
Since visiting the country in May, Tan has not been allowed to leave due to the case against him, having been charged under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., and the Criminal Act.
Tan issued his remarks about Lee’s alleged juvenile crimes at a National Press Club event titled: “Report on Election Fraud in the June 3 South Korean Presidential election.” In response to a question about President Lee and other issues, Tan responded by citing allegations from a few years back that Lee was involved in a gang rape and murder when he was a teenager. He added that Lee, now 62, was sent to a juvenile detention center and did not complete junior high and high school.
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a press conference on his G7 trip at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on June 19, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images)
South Korean prosecutors say the criminal allegations against Lee are unsubstantiated, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. The outlet wrote that they said Lee had not “been prevented from attending middle or high school due to such a criminal record.”
Another South Korean news outlet, KBS World reported that “the prosecution previously verified that there was no record of Lee’s being incarcerated at a juvenile detention center and concluded that the rumors about his incarceration were false.”
Asia Business Daily reported that Tan’s attorney said that “Even if jurisdiction is recognized, the statements did not present false information, and Tan was not aware that they were false,” adding, “He had no intention to defame.”
Tan told Fox News Digital on Friday that he “pleaded not guilty because I believe that Lee Jae Myung is guilty” during his hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.
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Amb. Morse Tan during a press conference outside the court in Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 16, 2026. (Morse Tan)
Tan, who has taught constitutional law and served as the dean of Liberty University’s law school, told Fox News Digital his “protected speech is about as protected as it gets.” He said South Korea’s prosecutor invoked “criminal defamation, a dubious category which does not exist in the U.S.,” to prosecute him.
A spokesperson for the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. told Fox News Digital, “This case is being handled in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, established principles and due process in the Republic of Korea and the restriction on departure is also imposed and reviewed accordingly.”
Tan says he is disappointed that the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Michelle Steel, a former Republican congresswoman from California, has not publicly commented on Tan’s legal case — both Steel and Tan are Korean-Americans.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time.”
Tan said the case against him violated his due process rights, and the South Korean judicial system lacks jurisdiction to bring the case. He added that the second charge against him involves his July 2025 talk in South Korea, where he “raised some issues as questions” involving the president. “This is political lawfare. This is a persecution, not a prosecution,” he said.
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Amb. Morse Tan addressing supporters near the courthouse in Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 16, 2023. (Morse Tan)
Tan believes the motivation for seeking to criminalize his free speech stems from the South Korean government’s view of him as a “threat” and an outspoken critic of Lee’s alleged appeasement policy toward the North Korean communist regime.
“People consider me to be leading a movement against the communizing of South Korea,” Tan said.
Tan accused the present government of being aligned with North Korean and Chinese communist regimes “against the U.S. and the Korean people.”
Tan points to bias against him by South Korean authorities, who he says prohibited him from attending the funeral of his grandmother, while it allows South Korean prisoners to attend funerals for family members.
KBS World reported that the “Police, who had initially decided not to hand over Tan’s case to the prosecution, launched a reinvestigation at the prosecution’s request.”
Ambassador Morse Tan pictured during his tenure at the State Department in President Donald Trump’s first term. Tan served as the Ambassador-at-Large for the Office of Global Criminal Justice. (US State Department)
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National Review Online also reported that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Cyber dismissed a complaint about Tan’s alleged defamatory statements in April 2026, declaring “no right to prosecute.”
According to South Korean law, Tan could face a prison term if found guilty.