Former U.S. diplomat Morse Tan appeared before a South Korean court Friday to face defamation charges linked to comments he made in the United States about President Lee Jae Myung. The case has also prevented Tan from leaving South Korea.
The legal dispute began after Tan spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in June 2025. While answering a question, he referenced allegations that Lee had been involved in criminal activity during his teenage years.
Tan entered South Korea in May but has remained in the country under a travel restriction imposed in connection with the prosecution. He is charged under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, as well as South Korea’s Criminal Act.
Tan made the disputed comments during a National Press Club event titled “Report on Election Fraud in the June 3 South Korean Presidential Election.” Asked about Lee and related political issues, Tan repeated allegations from several years earlier claiming that Lee had taken part in a gang rape and murder as a teenager. Tan also said Lee, now 62, had been placed in juvenile detention and never completed middle or high school.
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 have said the accusations against Lee are unsupported, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. The newspaper reported that prosecutors also rejected the claim that Lee was barred from attending middle or high school because of a criminal record.
KBS World likewise reported that prosecutors had previously found no record showing Lee was held in a juvenile detention facility and determined that claims about such incarceration were false.
According to Asia Business Daily, Tan’s lawyer argued that the court should not have jurisdiction over the matter. The attorney also said the statements were not knowingly false and that Tan had no intention of defaming Lee.
Speaking to News Outlet on Friday, Tan said he pleaded not guilty because he believes “Lee Jae Myung is guilty.” His remarks came during a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.
Amb. Morse Tan during a press conference outside the court in Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 16, 2026. (Morse Tan)
Tan, a constitutional law professor and former dean of Liberty University’s law school, said his remarks represented “about as protected” speech as possible. He argued that prosecutors were using criminal defamation, a legal category he said does not exist in the United States, to pursue the case.
A spokesperson for the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., said the case was being handled under the country’s applicable laws, established legal principles and due-process requirements. The spokesperson added that Tan’s departure restriction was being imposed and reviewed through the appropriate procedures.
Tan also expressed frustration that U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel, a former Republican congresswoman from California, has not publicly addressed his legal predicament. Steel and Tan are both Korean Americans.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined to discuss the specific allegations or proceedings.
“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans,” the spokesperson told News Outlet. “Due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time.”
Tan maintains that the prosecution violates his due-process rights and that South Korean courts lack jurisdiction over statements made in the United States. He said a second charge concerns a speech he delivered in South Korea in July 2025, where he claimed he merely “raised some issues as questions” about Lee. Tan described the proceedings as “political lawfare” and “persecution, not prosecution.”
Amb. Morse Tan addressing supporters near the courthouse in Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 16, 2023. (Morse Tan)
Tan believes South Korean authorities are seeking to criminalize his speech because they view him as a threat and as a vocal opponent of what he characterizes as Lee’s conciliatory approach toward North Korea’s communist government.
“People consider me to be leading a movement against the communizing of South Korea,” Tan said.
He further accused the current South Korean government of aligning itself with the communist regimes of North Korea and China “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)
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.
