Court Upholds Travel Ban on Morse Tan Over Alleged False Claims About Lee Jae Myung's Juvenile Record; Says Restriction Is Justified During Criminal Trial

[Financial News] A former professor at Liberty University in the United States, Morse Tan, who was indicted on charges of defaming President Lee Jae Myung, filed a lawsuit challenging the Ministry of Justice's extension of his travel ban. The court, however, rejected the claim.
On July 31, Judge Kim Tae-hwan of the Seoul Administrative Court's Single-judge Division 3 dismissed Tan's claim seeking to overturn the Ministry of Justice's extension order dated July 1 and rejected his claim over the July 16 order.
The court said the travel ban imposed on July 1, which was set to run until July 31, could no longer be challenged because Tan was indicted on the 16th and a new travel ban order was issued, causing the earlier measure to lose effect.
By contrast, the court found the travel ban issued on July 16, which runs until August 15, to be lawful. As a result, Tan's travel restriction will remain in place until the 15th of next month.
The court stated, "The plaintiff is a foreign national and falls under the Immigration Control Act's category of a 'person whose criminal trial is ongoing,' which makes him subject to a travel ban." It added, "It is difficult to conclude that the order failed to meet the requirements for a travel ban or that the disadvantage suffered by the plaintiff is excessively large or harsh compared with the public interest it seeks to achieve."
In particular, the court said Tan had refused to receive summonses from investigators and had shown an attempt to evade judicial procedures by declining to provide statements during questioning, including basic personal information such as his name and address. Given that conduct, the court found that the possibility of fleeing overseas could not be ruled out and that the travel ban was necessary.
Tan's side said it would immediately appeal. Attorney Kim Ji-mi argued, "The justice minister's travel ban order on the grounds of an investigation is an overly broad interpretation of the authority granted under the Immigration Control Act," adding, "It is a ruling that shows the judiciary has forgotten its duty."
She added, "Now that he has been indicted, the need for Tan to return to his home country to exercise his right to defense has become even greater."
Tan is accused of defaming Lee by making false remarks at a press conference held in June last year at the National Press Building in Washington, D.C., saying that Lee had been involved in the murder of a teenage girl during his youth, had been sent to a juvenile detention center, and therefore had not attended middle or high school.
After a reinvestigation by police, the case was sent to prosecutors on the 1st. Prosecutors then indicted Tan without detention on the 16th on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and defamation under the Criminal Act.
The Ministry of Justice later lifted the existing travel ban and issued a new order restricting his departure from the country until the 15th of next month. Tan's first trial is scheduled for September 11.
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter