A Seoul court Saturday allowed prosecutors to detain an Internet pundit whose prophetic comments about the South Korean economy have won him a wave of supporters disenchanted with the government, Yonhap News reported.
Prosecutors Friday apprehended the man, 30, identified only as Park, whom they believe is the author of over 100 online postings critical of the government's handling of the economy, widely known by his Internet alias, "Minerva." Park was arrested on charges of spreading false rumors and later admitted to authoring the postings.
. . .
Minerva made his name after predicting the fall of Lehman Brothers and the plunge of the won against the dollar. Even Finance Minister Kang Man-soo said he would like to have a ``face-to-face, down-to-earth talk'' with him.
From the Joongang Ilbo:
According to prosecutors, Park had made more than 100 online postings on the anonymous bulletin board at major local portal Daum.net throughout last year. One posting on Dec. 29 is clearly false, prosecutors said. It amounts to “spreading false rumors with an intention to harm the public” - a violation of telecommunications law, according to prosecutors. Violators face a jail term of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won ($37,481).
Some background from the International Herald Tribune. The Korea Times also has reactions from Koreans and from foreigners, and Korea Beat has a take on this as well. Read the comments for another side of the story.
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