Since arriving in Korea last week, Morse Tan has hobnobbed with some of the country’s most prolific spreaders of stolen election conspiracy theories
Hwang Kyo-ahn, the leader of the far-right Freedom & Innovation party, posted this photo of himself with Morse Tan, a known purveyor of election fraud conspiracy theories, on his Facebook page. (via Facebook)
A former dean of Liberty University's Law School and former US State Department official named Morse Tan is fueling conspiracy theories about stolen elections in Korea by meeting with leading spreaders of election misinformation, including Hwang Kyo-ahn, the leader of the Freedom & Innovation party, and former star Korean history lecturer and current YouTuber Jeon Han-gil. Emboldened by the trio’s show of unity, online communities have seen a surge of unverified election fraud claims, which are then amplified by politicians and influential YouTubers. Tan, a former dean of Liberty University’s School of Law who arrived in Korea last week on behalf of a self-styled “Korea-US Election Fraud Joint Investigation Team,” has spent his time in Korea meeting with politicians, YouTubers and other figures who have been promoting similar theories of stolen elections. Tan started his visit on Friday at Hwang’s campaign headquarters and accommodation in Pyeongtaek, as the former prime minister makes another bid for a seat in the National Assembly.Tan then proceeded to meet former Jeon Han-gil and Jun Kwang-hoon, the head pastor at Sarang Jeil Church. On Saturday, he visited the Seongnam Mail Center, out of a stated desire to tour the facility where early voting ballots for Wednesday’s local elections were being collected. Tan, who is under investigation by Korean police on allegations of defamation after claiming that President Lee Jae Myung had been involved in organized crime, has not been complying with police summonses. In KakaoTalk group chats where election deniers congregate, users shared news of Tan’s activities, encouraging participation in the joint investigation team and circulating unverified reports. Such reports included sharing photographs of early voters, whose eyes had been blurred out, and claiming that they had voted more than once, as well as claims that the number of voters they had counted themselves did not match the actual voter count. Hwang lent credence to such claims by posting these reports verbatim on his social media under the title, “Examples of fraud in the June 3 local elections.” As politicians, influential YouTubers, and supporters who believe in election fraud feed off one another’s rhetoric, public distrust of the electoral process is growing. In these chat rooms, users are posting calls for thousands of people to “storm the National Election Commission to protest and wreak havoc,” and to “destroy the PPP” for its unwillingness to endorse theories of election fraud. On a different online platform, users posted that they believed Tan was visiting South Korea because “he had secured evidence proving election fraud.”Experts say that theories are undermining trust in the electoral process, and thus Korea’s democracy itself. “Election fraud conspiracy theories are being proliferated to destabilize the legitimacy of opposing political forces; the problem is that this is influencing a substantial portion of the public,” said Kang Woo-jin, a professor of political science at Kyungpook National University. “One of the most important core principles of a democracy is consensus on the electoral system, but these conspiracy theories on election fraud are undermining that foundation,” he warned. By Park Go-eun, staff reporter; Jeong Bong-bi, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]Related stories· Morse Tan, election conspiracy peddler, arrives in Korea ahead of June 3 elections· Lee-Trump summit highlights risk posed by far right’s growing international network· [Editorial] Election fraud conspiracy theorists are the real threats to Korea’s democracy· Korean CPAC: The organization behind growing alliance of Korean, American far rights· Korea’s election deniers and Yoon supporters take their theories to Washington광고Editorial・opinion[Column] From complete denuclearization of North Korea to managing nuclear risk[Editorial] Korea is a model US ally on defense. It’s time it regains wartime OPCON.[Editorial] Election fraud conspiracy theorists are the real threats to Korea’s democracy[Column] Israel: The definition of a democratic fascist regime[Column] The tyranny of merit and the distribution of profit in the AI era[Editorial] Working groups on Korea-US fact sheet must yield tangible results[Editorial] Head of USFK continues to cross the line with inappropriate political remarks[Editorial] A disgraced former president like Park Geun-hye has no place on the campaign trail[Editorial] Korea’s online hate problem calls for platform regulation and anti-discrimination law[Reporter’s notebook] Trump’s primary purge of ‘traitors’ won’t win him anything
