Morse Tan (Korean name: Dan Hyun-myung), former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, visited the protest site in Jamsil, Seoul, on the 24th. [Photo=Yonhap News] 

It has been learned belatedly that police have conducted a private summons and interrogation of Morse Tan (Korean name: Dan Hyun-myung), former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice and professor at Liberty University, over allegations of defaming Lee Jae-myung.

Tan’s legal counsel announced in a press release on the 26th that he had appeared at the Cyber Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu the previous morning at 10:00 a.m. for a two-hour interrogation as a suspect.

“The questioning was conducted in a Q&A format, and we have fully conveyed our legal position through the written opinion already submitted,” his attorney stated. “We believe it is unlikely that further investigations will be necessary.”

Tan was originally scheduled to be summoned on the 24th, but he refused, citing the possibility of media exposure, and subsequently filed a request to reschedule the date through his legal team.

Tan, who served as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice during the first Trump administration, has been active in calling for investigations into alleged election fraud in South Korea and emphasizing the justification for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law.

He is currently under police investigation for claims he made at a press conference in the U.S. last year, in which he alleged that Lee Jae-myung was involved in a murder case as a youth and was held in a juvenile detention center. 

Tan arrived in South Korea on the 28th of last month ahead of the June 3rd local elections and is currently subject to an exit ban.

His legal counsel explained that the exit ban expires at midnight on the 30th, and that Tan would be free to leave the country unless further measures are taken to extend it.

They emphasized, “We are preparing all necessary legal responses to counter any potential illegal or unjust extension of the exit ban that fails to meet legal requirements.”

U.S. political, business, and government circles have expressed serious concern regarding Tan’s detention in South Korea. 

In an article contributed to *American Greatness* on the 7th, Bart Marcois, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, sharply criticized the situation, stating that while Washington is focused elsewhere, South Korea has been seized by a hard-left communist faction more interested in currying favor with Pyongyang and Beijing than with Washington. He expressed concern that “they are detaining former Ambassador Tan” and urged the U.S. government to “respond strongly to this.”

The article also noted that Lee Jae-myung has been under criminal investigation for allegedly funneling over $8 million in secret payments to North Korea, and strongly criticized the fact that he is also considering a constitutional amendment to abolish the single-term presidency and allow for indefinite consecutive terms.