Former Trump Diplomat Morse Tan Pleads Not Guilty in Seoul Defamation Case
Morse H. Tan, who served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2021, pleaded not guilty at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday to charges that he criminally defamed South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in remarks made in the United States last year. According to Korean outlet SBS News, his legal team argued at the first trial hearing that South Korea lacks jurisdiction to prosecute him for comments made on American soil.
Tan has been barred from leaving South Korea since late May, when he arrived to observe local elections. He was indicted without detention in July under South Korea's Criminal Act and the Information and Communications Network Act. The case stems from remarks he made at a June 2025 event on Korean election integrity at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., a clip of which later circulated widely on social media.
Defamation is a criminal offense in South Korea carrying potential prison time and heavy fines. No date for the next hearing has been announced. (GSM, based on reporting by The Christian Post and Korean media)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 首尔市政厅。 Photo by Mobius6, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
