Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor accused of defamation against President Lee Jae-myung and Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party, speaks to reporters as he arrives for a suspect interrogation before a warrant request at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on April 13. [Yonhap News] 

Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor and YouTuber facing police investigation for defamation against President Lee Jae-myung and Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party, is now at a crossroads regarding his potential detention.

The Human Rights Protection Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Si-jeon) announced on the 14th that it had requested an arrest warrant from the court for Jeon on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., and violation of the Basic Act on Telecommunications. Previously, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency had investigated Jeon and applied for an arrest warrant to the prosecution. The prosecution decided to request the warrant after conducting a pre-warrant interrogation.

The suspect interrogation before detention (warrant review hearing) for Jeon, who is currently an uncaught suspect, is expected to take place as early as the latter half of this week.

Jeon was reported and accused after broadcasting on YouTube on March 18th a claim by a man stating that "President Lee Jae-myung handed over slush funds worth 160 trillion won and military secrets to China," and on March 27th, claiming that "it is false that Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok double-majored in economics at Harvard University."

The Human Rights Protection Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated, "Following the suspect interview before detention, the charges were substantiated, and considering the seriousness of the matter, such as repeatedly creating and spreading fake news, and the risk of reoffending and absconding, an arrest warrant was requested for Jeon." The prosecutor is scheduled to attend the hearing in person to present their opinions.

Upon arriving at the prosecution yesterday, Jeon claimed to reporters, "Detaining someone who has lived without breaking the law is political retaliation."