Mostad appeals again after court rejects bid to disqualify judge in travel-ban case

Moses Tan (Korean name Dan Hyeon-myeong), a professor at Liberty University in the United States who is under a travel ban while being investigated on charges of defaming President Lee Jae Myung, has filed yet another appeal after a court rejected his bid to disqualify the presiding judge.

Tan's legal team submitted an immediate appeal to the Fifth Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Jeong-won, on Tuesday, according to Yonhap News Agency.

An immediate appeal is a legal procedure for challenging a court's ruling or order.

The Fifth Administrative Division had earlier rejected Tan's request to disqualify Judge Wi Ji-hyeon of the First Administrative Single-Judge Division.

The First Administrative Single-Judge Division was the court that rejected Tan's application to suspend enforcement of the Ministry of Justice's travel ban order on June 4.

Tan's team argued that because the same court that dismissed the suspension application would also hear the main lawsuit, a fair trial could not be expected, and on that basis sought to have the judge disqualified.

The Fifth Administrative Division rejected the request on Tuesday, ruling that the fact that the judge's timing or outcome differed from what Tan's side had hoped "cannot be taken as grounds to conclude the judge would conduct an unfair trial in the main case."

Tan's team then filed the immediate appeal challenging that ruling. His legal team had previously filed an immediate appeal against the June 4 decision rejecting the suspension of the travel ban.

Tan served as the US ambassador-at-large for international criminal justice under the first Trump administration. He drew controversy by promoting conspiracy theories, including claims that China interfered in fraudulent South Korean elections and that President Lee had been sent to a juvenile detention facility as a child.

Police booked Tan on defamation charges related to President Lee in July last year. When Tan entered South Korea on May 28 — ahead of the June 3 local elections — saying he intended to monitor and verify what he called election fraud, police summoned him for questioning.

After Tan submitted a written explanation for his non-appearance and refused to comply, police requested a travel ban from the Ministry of Justice on June 1. The ministry issued a travel ban on Tan through June 30.

Tan filed both a cancellation lawsuit and an application to suspend enforcement of the ban. The court rejected the suspension application on June 4, and Tan's team filed an immediate appeal, which is currently awaiting a ruling from a higher court.

Tan had been scheduled to appear before police for questioning Wednesday but failed to show up, citing the police's refusal to honor his request to keep the proceedings from the media.