Mos Tan skips police questioning after last-minute dispute over privacy protections

By Jung Joo-won, The Herald Business

Mos Tan (Korean name Dan Hyeon-myeong), a professor at Liberty University in the United States under investigation on charges of spreading false information about President Lee Jae-myung, abruptly failed to appear Wednesday for scheduled questioning at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. His legal team said police had changed their privacy protection arrangements without notice.

Tan had been expected to appear at the agency at 10 a.m. Wednesday as a suspect. Confusion arose at the scene, however, after his side indicated he did not want to enter through the main gate.

Some reporters at the scene asked police to allow limited media access, but the request was denied. Officials on site said Tan would arrive by vehicle, receive a temporary visitor pass at the public service desk and proceed to a questioning room — but 10 a.m. came and went with no sign of him.

At around 10:20 a.m., Tan's lawyer released a statement saying the team had received word from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency just 20 minutes before his scheduled arrival that the agency would not honor its earlier promise on privacy protections. "We will not appear today, but will reschedule on the condition that the protective measures are in place," the statement said.

Tan is under investigation for repeatedly claiming last year, at venues in Washington, D.C., and at churches in South Korea, that President Lee had been involved in a murder as a teenager and had been held in a juvenile detention facility. Police determined the statements were false and applied defamation charges under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. Tan entered South Korea on May 28 and is currently barred from leaving the country under an exit ban issued by the Ministry of Justice.

Meanwhile, a civic group calling itself the "Mos Tan Arrest Corps" held a press conference outside the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, urging police to immediately arrest and detain Tan.

Oh Ju-seong, an executive committee member of the Autonomous Democracy Peace Unification National Committee, said Tan had long ignored police exit bans and summonses while spreading election-fraud conspiracy theories and false news. "What is needed is not an investigation but an immediate arrest," he said.

Yun Gyeong-hwang, co-chair of Seoul Candlelight Action, and Kim Tae-seong, a steering committee member of Youth Candlelight Action, also called for a firm police response, saying Tan was "joining forces with far-right elements in South Korea to stoke social disorder."

Tan's side said it plans to reschedule his appearance in consultation with police, and that a press conference planned for 8 p.m. Wednesday near gates 2 and 3 of the Olympic Gymnastics Arena at Olympic Park would proceed as scheduled.