A former ambassador faces charges of defamation in South Korea.
A former ambassador faces charges of defamation in South Korea.
A former U.S. ambassador has been indicted in South Korea for allegedly defaming Korean President Lee Jae Myung in a 2025 speech given on American soil.
Morse Tan, who served as the U.S Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice during the first Trump administration, has been prevented from leaving South Korea for purported defamation against Lee, despite the fact that the speech was uttered in the United States and protected under the First Amendment.
When speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in 2025, Tan said the following of the current South Korean president: “We’re talking about gang rape, we’re talking about murder against a sixth-grade girl. And because of this he was, it’s reported, put in juvenile detention and therefore was not able to attend and graduate from junior high and high school.” That statement is protected speech under the U.S. Constitution.
Tan, a scholar on North Korea who earned a law degree at Northwestern University and was previously the dean of Liberty University’s law school, has since defended those allegations. In an interview this July, Tan argued that a prosecutor would have sufficient evidence to pursue a case against President Lee with respect to the alleged crimes.
Tan is not the first person to allege that Lee has connections to crime, nor is he the first person to be charged with defamation for making such claims. A major Korean broadcasting network aired a segment in its crime show “Unanswered Questions” in 2018 that raised questions regarding whether President Lee, who at the time was governor of Gyeonggi Province, had connections to organized crime because he had served as defense counsel for two local members of the Seongnam International Mafia in 2007.
Once he assumed the presidency in 2025, Lee called out the broadcasting network: “I wonder whether ‘Unanswered Questions,’ which created the allegations linking [me] to organized crime, will readily issue a follow-up report, and if so, what it will contain,” reads a translation of his post on social media. “I may be asking too much, but I would like to hear a sincere word of apology.”
Within hours, the producers of the show released a statement that said they had aired allegations against Lee without sufficient evidence. The statement also summarized what happened after the episode aired: Lee’s actions were referred to prosecutors, who decided not to indict him in late 2018. “The allegations of ties between then–Gyeonggi Province governor Lee Jae Myung and the Seongnam-based international organized crime syndicate have been legally determined to be unfounded,” reads a translation of the statement, per English-language editions of Korean outlets.
A lawyer, Jang Young-ha, claimed during the 2022 presidential election that then-candidate Lee had received money from the Seongnam-based mafia; Jang was served a suspended prison sentence this year for violating South Korea’s Public Official Election Act by spreading false statements. A Youtuber based in South Korea was fined $6 million won (roughly $4,250 USD) for violating the Public Office Election Act by alleging, among other things, that Lee Jae Myung was involved in sexually assaulting a girl who later died.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Cyber Investigation Unit received a complaint in July 2025 about Tan’s allegedly defamatory statements, but the agency dismissed the case in April 2026 on the grounds that it had “no right to prosecute.”
That assessment was correct: The South Korean authorities have no right to charge an American, let alone a former ambassador, for protected speech uttered in America — even if that speech would be defamatory under South Korean law, or even if that defamation targeted a South Korean citizen.
However, prosecutors requested a reinvestigation on the grounds that Tan reentered South Korea in May 2026. The police approached him upon arrival for questioning, but he referred them to his legal team. (In the following weeks, he did attend an hours-long questioning session but remained silent throughout; he kept himself occupied by reading a book about the Korean War.) Tan was served an exit ban shortly after arriving in South Korea, and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on July 1 that it referred Tan to prosecutors without detention on defamation charges.
Tan, whose sole citizenship is with the United States, was charged with criminal defamation on June 23, and a trial has been scheduled for September 11. He will be able to leave South Korea before then if the court grants permission, or if the United States intervenes; the court recently rejected Tan’s request to have the exit ban suspended.
“What’s extraordinary is that this was a statement by a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil about a public, political figure, and therefore it is protected by the First Amendment — the core of which protects political speech, especially that about public figures,” Tan told National Review in an interview conducted over video.
Tan explained that his case has many issues aside from the lack of proper jurisdiction. He noted that, under South Korean law at the time he made the statement, his speech would have been protected. Tan also said South Korea ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19 of which also protects free expression. He explained that his due process rights have been violated because he was not given proper notice on several occasions where it was required.
“This makes no sense, this is absolutely lawless, this is politicized lawfare,” Tan told NR. He emphasized that his case is also a diplomatic issue, given his previous position as an ambassador.
If he’s convicted of publicly alleging false facts, Tan could be imprisoned for five years, have his qualifications suspended for up to ten years, and/or be fined up to 10 million won (roughly $7,000 USD). Alternatively, if he’s found guilty of defamation disseminated through media, Tan could face seven years in prison, suspension of qualifications for up to ten years, and/or a maximum fine of 15 million won ($10,500 USD).
And this behavior comes from a supposed ally — a country that shares a mutual defense treaty with the United States and whose soldiers have fought alongside ours.
Tan said he believes the defamation case is a pretext to discredit him because he’s raised alarm about election fraud, and his case is part of a broader trend of the Chinese Communist Party “communizing” South Korea.
“I’m calling out the communization of South Korea. I’m calling out the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party in North and South Korea. I’m calling out a whole host of injustices and lies, and things that go against South Korea’s constitutional republic, representative democracy, and the Korean American alliance,” Tan told National Review. “And I’ve been winning over a lot of people, and that makes me a threat to them, because I am puncturing their lies, their gaslighting, and their propaganda. More and more people are convinced that I’m speaking the truth.”
Tan was one of four people who signed a statement released by the International Election Monitoring Team of the National Election Integrity Association in early June 2025 that raised concerns about the integrity of the election that President Lee Jae Myung won. “The recurrence of such voting disparities in 2025 raises renewed concerns about statistical anomalies and potential manipulation,” reads the statement. It adds, “Throughout its activities, the [International Election Monitoring Team] repeatedly identified structural and technical deficiencies and on-site irregularities that called into question the integrity of the election process.”
Tan emphasized that radical elites have captured South Korea’s institutions — including the government, unions, media, and educational system — through a “decades-long march,” but the people at large remain supportive of America. China’s long-term strategy, Tan thinks, is to “take over” South Korea. The CCP would welcome uniting South Korea with its northern neighbor, he said.
Tan disclosed that “senior people” in the Trump administration are aware of his situation and are “working behind the scenes,” but he did not provide further details. The State Department did not respond to National Review’s request for comment. A senior member of the State Department privately confirmed to National Review that it is aware of Tan’s situation, but did not elaborate.
Tan noted that Trump administration has been critical of South Korea under President Lee. For instance, Trump himself described South Korea’s most recent presidential election as appearing like a “purge” or “revolution.” More recently, Trump urged South Korea to join the Iran war, although it has declined to do so — even though a South Korean ship was struck by what was likely an Iranian missile.
The average American should be concerned by the possibility of losing one of our most strategically important allies and our most crucial partner in the region, Tan said. He further stressed that his own case should serve as a warning sign to us because it threatens the exercise of our expressive freedoms at home. As a comparison, he mentioned that every American should be alarmed to imagine the possibility of being arrested, charged, and barred from leaving the United Kingdom due to criticizing former Prime Minister Keir Starmer while home in the U.S.
“If they’re willing to do this to a former ambassador, then surely any American is potentially at risk here,” Tan said.