prosecutors have charged Korean-American professor Morse Tan for criminal defamation over false claims targeting President
.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office reportedly indicted Tan without detention on Thursday on multiple defamation charges.
Tan, who served as the US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice under the first
administration, is accused of spreading false allegations during a press conference in Washington last year. He allegedly claimed that Lee had been involved in a gang rape and murder of a girl when he was younger and had been sent to a juvenile detention centre.
Police had initially launched an investigation after receiving a criminal complaint from a civic group, but later closed the case in April without referring it to prosecutors, ruling that jurisdiction did not apply given that Tan was a foreign national and the statements were made in the US.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his wife, Kim Hea-kyung, arrive to attend the 36th Nato Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7. Photo: Reuters
However, prosecutors requested that the investigation be reopened, arguing that local authorities have jurisdiction since the alleged victim, President Lee, lives in South Korea.