Joint Letter to President Trump re: Amb. Tan.

Hon. Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to ensure that you are aware of both what appears to be a deliberate and offensive personal slight to you as well as fresh evidence of quite ominous strategic developments for our national security.

Nearly two months ago, the South Korean government of President Lee Jae Myung prevented the return to America of a man who served with great distinction as our Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice in your first administration: Ambassador Morse Tan. He has effectively been a political hostage ever since with the original exit ban extended twice, currently through at least the middle of August.

To add insult to injury, the Ambassador has been indicted for having “defamed” President Lee during remarks in June 2025 at the National Press Club in Washington. Needless to say, such speech is protected by our Constitution. In fact, it is by current South Korean legal code, as well.

Consequently, the Lee regime’s ongoing persecution of Amb. Tan is not only an outrageous human rights abuse. It is, if anything, validating the concerns that this former senior diplomat and a growing number of others have been raising about the alarming and increasingly totalitarian transformation now underway in the Republic of Korea, one of our most important allies and security partners in East Asia.

We urge you to engage at once with President Lee to impress upon him that such mistreatment of one of your people and his increasing repression at home and realigning abroad with Communist China and North Korea – of which the Tan travesty is but one manifestation – are unacceptable to the United States. He must be made to understand that such activities can prove extremely inimical to our important bilateral relationship, especially at a time when South Korea is pursuing extensive commercial and military shipbuilding deals with our country.

Please act to secure Amb. Tan’s release from the RoK without further delay and to prevent further bilateral strains at a time when our two nations require more than ever a robust and mutually dedicated stance against our mutual enemies’ regional aggression.

Sincerely,