Former US ambassador says South Korea prosecuted him over speech made on American soil

Tan's legal troubles began after he delivered a talk in June 2025 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where he responded to a question about President Lee's alleged involvement in a crime as an adolescent. Since visiting South Korea in May, Tan has not been allowed to leave the country due to the case against him.

The former diplomat, who taught constitutional law and served as dean of Liberty University's law school, was charged under South Korea's Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., and the Criminal Act.

Allegations and Prosecution

During his speech titled Report on Election Fraud in the June 3 South Korean Presidential election, Tan cited allegations that President Lee, now 62, was involved in a gang rape and murder as a teenager and was sent to a juvenile detention center. South Korean prosecutors maintain these allegations are unsubstantiated, stating Lee had not been prevented from attending middle or high school due to such a criminal record.

KBS World reported that the prosecution previously verified that there was no record of Lee's being incarcerated at a juvenile detention center and concluded that the rumors about his incarceration were false. Tan's attorney argued that Even if jurisdiction is recognized, the statements did not present false information, and Tan was not aware that they were false.

Free Speech Concerns

Tan maintains that his protected speech is about as protected as it gets and that South Korea's prosecutor invoked criminal defamation, a dubious category which does not exist in the U.S., to prosecute him. He called the case political lawfare and a persecution, not a prosecution, claiming it violated his due process rights.

A spokesperson for the South Korean Embassy in Washington stated the case is being handled in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, established principles and due process in the Republic of Korea. The U.S. State Department declined to comment specifically on the case, only saying The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans.

Political Motivations

Tan believes the South Korean government views him as a threat and an outspoken critic of Lee's alleged appeasement policy toward North Korea. People consider me to be leading a movement against the communizing of South Korea, he said, accusing the present government of being aligned with North Korean and Chinese communist regimes against the U.S. and the Korean people.

Tan pointed to what he described as bias by South Korean authorities, who he says prohibited him from attending his grandmother's funeral while allowing South Korean prisoners to attend family funerals. Notably, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Cyber initially dismissed a complaint about Tan's alleged defamatory statements in April 2026, declaring no right to prosecute before launching a reinvestigation at the prosecution's request.