Former US Ambassador Morse Tan appeared in a Seoul court on Friday to plead not guilty to defamation charges. The legal dispute centers on remarks Tan made regarding President Lee Jae Myung's past, a situation that has prevented Tan from leaving South Korea since May.
The disputed claims regarding President Lee Jae Myung’s teenage years
The core of the prosecution's case involves a presentation Tan delivered in June 2025 at the National Press Club in Washington , D.C. During that event, Tan cited allegations that President Lee Jae Myung was involved in a gang rape and murder during his youth, claiming the 62-year-old was sent to a juvenile detention center and failed to complete his secondary education.
However, South Korean authorities have moved to debunk these specific claims. As KBS World reported, the prosecution previously verified that no record exists of Lee being incarcerated in a juvenile detention center, concluding that the rumors regarding his incarceration were false. Furthermore, Korea JoongAng Daily noted that authorities disputed the claim that Lee's criminal record prevented him from attending middle or high school.
A sudden reversal by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Cyber unit
The legal trajectory of this case has been marked by unexpected shifts in investigative stances. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Cyber unit had originally dismissed a complaint regarding Tan's alleged defamatory statements in April 2026, determining there was no right to prosecute.
This initial dismissal was later overturned when the police launched a reinvestigation at the specific request of the prosecution.. This reversal has fueled Tan's assertion that the legal proceedings are not a standard criminal matter but are instead a form of "political lawfare" designed to target a critic of the current administration's North Korea policy.
The legal friction between US speech rights and Korean criminal law
Morse Tan, who previously served as the dean of Liberty University's law school,argues that the South Korean judicial system is overstepping its bounds. He contends that the prosecution is invoking criminal defamation—a concept he notes does not exist in the United States—to penalize speech that occurred on American soil. Tan is currently facing charges under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., as well as the Criminal Act.
Tan's legal team maintains that even if the court recognizes jurisdiction, the statements made were not intended to be defamatory, and Tan was unaware of any factual inaccuracies at the time of the speech. If the court finds him guilty, the former diplomat could face a prison sentence, adding significant stakes to a case that Tan claims violates his due process rights.
The absence of comment from Ambassador Michelle Steel
The case has also highlighted a perceived lack of diplomatic support for the former official. Tan has expressed disappointment that the current U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Michelle Steel, has not issued a public statement regarding his legal predicament.. Both Steel and Tan are Korean-Americans, a fact that adds a layer of personal and cultural complexity to the standoff.
While a spokesperson for the Trump administration stated that the safety of Americans is a priority, they noted that privacy considerations prevented further comment. This silence leaves several questions unanswered: Will the U.S. State Department intervene to address the departure ban, and how will the South Korean government respond to the growing number of House members who have accused the current administration of favoring China and attacking U.S. interests?
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