South Korea Kidnaps American Christian, Ex-Diplomat Who Dared to Criticize Nation's President While on US Soil
South Korea — a country that owes its entire existence to the United States — has decided to try a former ambassador from President Donald Trump’s first term on criminal defamation charges relating to comments he made about the country’s president while in the United States.
Morse Tan served as U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice from 2019 to 2021. On Friday, he went on trial in South Korea for comments made a year and a half ago, according to Just The News.
Tan has been critical of the country’s president, Lee Jae Myung, on several occasions, but his current troubles stem from comments made in June 2025 during a panel hosted by the Korean Conservative Political Action Conference.
Tan questioned the legitimacy of South Korea’s election that took place weeks prior, saying of Lee, “We’re talking about somebody who has had 12 lawsuits filed against him, five that are still going on,” adding that he was protected by “a corrupt system.”
He also brought up allegations against Lee stemming from when he was a minor.
Tan said that Lee “as a youth, was involved in gang raping and murdering a young lady, and as a result was put in juvenile detention and therefore was not able to attend junior high.”
Defamation charges also stem from comments made in July 2026 about the aforementioned panel on election fraud. He was in South Korea while making them, but his initial comments were made in the U.S.
His counsel has entered a not guilty plea on the ground of jurisdiction, arguing that Tan should not be charged for remarks given outside the country, and added “there was no disclosure of false facts, nor was there any awareness that the statements were false.”
The indictment against Tan is dubious when considering prosecutors apparently examined Lee’s juvenile records and found no evidence of the statements Tan made. The issue here is that those records are not publicly available.
Tan came to South Korea in the spring of 2026 to work as an election monitor but was quickly banned from leaving the country and classified as a flight risk. He missed his grandmother’s funeral because of the ordeal.
He told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the “show trial” could see him in prison for seven years.
In that interview, he had a harsh label for the current South Korean administration, saying they “should be thought of as North Korean operatives.”
Members of Congress have been calling attention to Tan’s situation.
California Rep. Young Kim, a Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, wrote to South Korean Ambassador Kang Kyung-wha in August, saying, “This treatment raises serious concerns about freedom of expression and due process. The case regards statements Ambassador Tan made as a private American citizen while in the United States.”
“Mr. Tan’s First Amendment rights as an American citizen must be respected.
“The U.S.-ROK alliance extends far beyond protecting the security of the Korean Peninsula and ensuring the stability of the Indo-Pacific. We have a shared commitment to representative government, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and the rule of law. The treatment of Mr. Tan, an American citizen and public servant, could affect perceptions of the Republic of Korea’s adherence to those shared values.”
Looking at the situation, it is preposterous that an ally from the Cold War would do such a thing.
South Korea has American soldiers stationed at its border to ensure its sovereignty.
Americans have died for this country to exist.
They are spitting in our faces with Tan’s indictment.
Geopolitically, the trial carries great consequences for the security of Asia. China and North Korea will take great comfort in seeing a divide forming here.
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