Jeon Han-gil, a YouTuber and former Korean history instructor who has been under investigation on allegations of spreading false information about President Lee Jae-myung, filed an administrative suit to overturn the extension of his travel ban but lost.
According to legal sources on the 9th, Judge Yoo Young-hwa of the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 11 single-judge bench recently ruled against the plaintiff in a suit Jeon filed seeking to cancel the extension of his travel ban against the Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
Earlier, the Ministry of Justice, at the request of police, first imposed a travel ban on Jeon in February. It has since extended the period month by month, and in June also issued a disposition extending the travel ban.
Jeon filed suit arguing it was unlawful to extend the travel ban solely because the investigation was ongoing, citing, among other points, that in April the court rejected a warrant for his arrest on the grounds there was no risk of flight or evidence destruction, but the court did not accept Jeon's claims.
In October last year, Jeon was accused after claiming on YouTube that the president hid slush funds and had an out-of-wedlock child. He is also under investigation in multiple defamation cases, including remarks that Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok received free polling from political broker Myeong Tae-gyun.
The court said, "Given that Jeon stayed abroad for an extended period on his last departure and failed to comply seven times with requests to appear from investigative authorities, there are concerns that his departure would cause significant disruption to the investigation."
It also said, "There is no material indicating that Jeon needs to travel abroad for work or that he has suffered tangible disadvantages from being unable to leave the country."