South Korean prosecutors have charged Korean-American professor Morse Tan for criminal defamation over false claims targeting President Lee Jae Myung.
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 Donald Trump 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.
However, prosecutors requested that the investigation be reopened, arguing that local authorities have jurisdiction since the alleged victim, President Lee, lives in South Korea.