Ex-Trump Ambassador Morse Tan Goes on Trial in South Korea for “Defaming” Its President, Including in Remarks Made in Washington
Morse Tan, who served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice in President Donald Trump’s first term, went on trial Friday in South Korea on criminal defamation charges over remarks he made about South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, including remarks he made in Washington, D.C., according to Fox News Digital and Just the News. Tan, an American citizen, has been barred from leaving South Korea since he arrived in the country in the spring.
Tan appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday and pleaded not guilty, according to Fox News Digital. He told the outlet he “pleaded not guilty because I believe that Lee Jae Myung is guilty.”
WHAT THE MORSE TAN CASE IS ABOUT
The case stems from a June 2025 event at the National Press Club in Washington titled “Report on Election Fraud in the June 3 South Korean Presidential election,” Fox News Digital reported. Answering a question there, Tan repeated old claims that Lee had committed serious crimes as a teenager and had been held in juvenile detention.
South Korean prosecutors say those claims are false. According to South Korean outlets cited by Fox News Digital, prosecutors checked Lee’s records and found no record that he was ever held at a juvenile detention center. Just the News reported that a second charge involves comments Tan made at a later public event in South Korea.
Tan was charged under South Korea’s information and communications network law and its Criminal Act, Fox News Digital reported. Under South Korean law, he could face prison time if convicted.
TAN’S DEFENSE
Tan’s lawyer asked the court to dismiss the case on the first day of trial, arguing that South Korean courts have no jurisdiction over an American for statements made on U.S. soil, Just the News reported, citing South Korea’s SBS News. Even if the court has jurisdiction, the lawyer argued, “the statements did not present false information, and Tan was not aware that they were false,” and “he had no intention to defame,” according to Asia Business Daily as quoted by Fox News Digital.
Tan, a former dean of Liberty University’s law school who has taught constitutional law, told Fox News Digital his “protected speech is about as protected as it gets” and called criminal defamation “a dubious category which does not exist in the U.S.”
“This is political lawfare. This is a persecution, not a prosecution,” Tan said.
He also said he was not allowed to leave South Korea to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
WHAT SOUTH KOREA AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT SAY
A spokesperson for the South Korean Embassy in Washington 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.”
A State Department spokesperson declined to discuss the specifics of the case, telling Fox News Digital that “the Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans” and that “due to privacy and other considerations, we have nothing further to share at this time.”
In August, Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including Chairman Brian Mast of Florida, former Chairman Chris Smith of New Jersey and Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas, signed a letter to South Korea’s ambassador raising “serious concerns about freedom of expression and due process” in Tan’s case, Just the News reported. South Korea’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, told lawmakers in Seoul in August that the U.S. side had “requested a smooth resolution,” according to the Chosun Daily as cited by Just the News.
Sources: Fox News Digital (Oct. 17, 2026); Just the News (Oct. 16, 2026), which cites SBS News, the Chosun Daily and a House Foreign Affairs Committee letter.
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