Mos Tahn (Korean name Dan Hyeon-myeong), a former Liberty University professor facing charges of defaming President Lee Jae Myung, answers reporters' questions at a press conference in front of the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on June 24. [Yonhap]
Mos Tahn (Korean name Dan Hyeon-myeong), a former Liberty University professor facing charges of defaming President Lee Jae Myung, answers reporters' questions at a press conference in front of the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on June 24. [Yonhap]

A former Liberty University professor facing charges of defaming President Lee Jae Myung has failed in his second attempt to suspend a travel ban imposed on him, a Seoul court ruled Monday.

Judge Kim Tae-hwan of the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 3 rejected the application by Mos Tahn, who sought to halt enforcement of a second travel ban order.

The court acknowledged that the travel restriction "appears likely to cause harm that would be difficult to remedy," but added that "in light of the circumstances surrounding the disposition and the progress of the investigation, the disposition needs to be maintained for the public good."

Tahn had his travel banned after he failed to comply with police summons during an investigation into the defamation charges against Lee. After the case was referred to prosecutors, they lifted the original travel ban and issued a new one.

Tahn had previously sought to suspend the first travel ban, but that application was also rejected. He filed the latest application after the second ban was imposed.

He is accused of spreading false claims in the United States last June that Lee had been sent to a juvenile detention facility as a teenager for a violent crime.


notstrong@heraldcorp.com