Professor Morse H. Tan [Yonhap News file photo]

The police have referred the case of Morse H. Tan (Korean name: Dan Hyun-myung), former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice and a professor at Liberty University, to the prosecution.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Investigation Division announced on the 1st that it had referred former Ambassador Tan to the prosecution without detention on charges including defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Former Ambassador Tan was sued for defamation after he raised allegations during a press conference in Washington, D.C., last year, suggesting that "Lee Jae-myung was involved in a murder case during his adolescence and was detained in a juvenile detention center."

Former Ambassador Tan, who served as the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice during the first Trump administration, has drawn domestic and international attention for his political statements, such as demanding an investigation into alleged election fraud in South Korea and defending the justification for President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3.

Having entered South Korea on May 28 ahead of the "June 3 election fraud" claims, former Ambassador Tan initially did not comply with police summons, leading the Ministry of Justice to impose an exit ban. After refusing to appear for police questioning once, citing concerns over potential media exposure, he eventually appeared privately for questioning on the morning of the 25th of last month and was interrogated as a suspect for approximately two hours.

At the time, legal counsel for former Ambassador Tan stated that the questioning proceeded smoothly in a question-and-answer format and that they had sufficiently explained their legal position.

According to Yonhap News, the exit ban on former Ambassador Tan, which was initially set to expire on the 30th of last month, has been extended by one month until the 31st of this month.

In response, former Ambassador Tan's legal team strongly protested, calling the move "an illegal and unjust abuse of public power that lacks legal and procedural justification, and a diplomatic stain that unfairly detains an individual who held high-ranking U.S. government office for an extended period," and announced that they would take all possible legal actions.

However, as the investigation authority has shifted to the prosecution, any final decisions regarding restrictions on his domestic and international travel will depend on the prosecution's future actions.

Meanwhile, some circles within the U.S. political, business, and government sectors are also closely monitoring the detention of former Ambassador Tan with serious concern.