Court upholds exit ban on ex-U.S. professor charged with defaming President Lee

A Seoul court on Friday upheld a travel ban barring Morse Tan, a Korean-American former professor, from leaving South Korea, as he faces criminal defamation charges over allegedly false claims about President Lee Jae Myung. The ruling follows Tan's lawsuit against the exit prohibition imposed by the justice ministry, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against Tan, saying that the disadvantage to the plaintiff from maintaining the ban did not greatly outweigh the public interest. The court also determined that Tan might not return to South Korea for additional questioning and potential indictment if he left, given his uncooperative attitude toward judicial proceedings, Yonhap reported.

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Tan, who served as the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice under the first Donald Trump administration, was charged by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office with multiple defamation counts, the South China Morning Post reported. The charges stem from allegations made during a press conference in Washington last year, in which he allegedly claimed Lee had been involved in a gang rape and murder of a girl when the president was younger and had been sent to a juvenile detention center.

arrests of the Case

Police initially closed the investigation in April without referral, citing jurisdiction issues because Tan is a foreign national and the statements were made in the United States, according to the South China Morning Post. However, prosecutors requested that the case be reopened, arguing that local authorities have jurisdiction since the alleged victim, President Lee, resides in South Korea.

Yonhap reported that Tan arrived in South Korea on May 28 to observe the June 3 local elections and subsequently did not comply with a police summons to appear for questioning, triggering the justice ministry's first travel ban. After police transferred the case to the prosecution, a second ban followed, and the restriction was renewed after Tan was indicted on July 16.

Key Claims

• Tan was indicted without detention on multiple defamation charges, according to the South China Morning Post reported.
• The travel ban remains in effect despite a judicial challenge, as reported by Yonhap.
• The court decided the public interest in continuing the ban outweighs the inconvenience to Tan, per Yonhap.
• An initial police investigation was closed on jurisdiction grounds, but prosecutors reopened the case, based on the account by The South China Morning Post.
• The first formal hearing of Tan's defamation trial is scheduled for September 11, as reported by Yonhap.

Perspectives

The court's (not the issue of the ban) and the defense viewpoint constitute two distinct positions.

Judicial and prosecutorial perspective

The Seoul Administrative Court stated that the disadvantage to Tan from maintaining the ban does not greatly outweigh the public interest, and the court expressed concern that Tan might not return for legal proceedings given his uncooperative behavior, as reported by Yonhap.

Defense counsel's perspective Tan's lawyer said at a press conference, “The judiciary has abandoned its duties and proved the collapse of the separation of powers and the constitutional order, as well as the death of the rule of law,” and vowed to appeal as soon as possible, according to Yonhap.