April 20, 2009 - 8:40am
On Monday a South Korean court has acquitted Park Dae-sung, a blogger charged with spreading false information on the Internet under a mysterious pseudonym in case that questioned the freedom of speech on the web.
Park, 30, described himself as a former securities firm employee with a master's degree obtained in the United States and experience in the field of corporate acquisitions. However, prosecutors said he was an unemployed Seoul resident, who studied economics on his own after graduating from a vocational high school and junior college with a major in information and communication.
Park made some 280 postings on bulletin boards on a popular Internet portal under the pen name of "Minerva" (the Greek goddess of wisdom) denouncing the government's handling of the economy and making largely negative predictions. It should be highlighted that some of his predictions, including the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, proved correct, which only increased the public interest in his online postings.
He is being accused of falsely writing that the government had banned major financial institutions and trade businesses from buying U.S. dollars. His identity became public after his arrest in January. The prosecutors sought an 18-month prison sentence.
At the same time, opposition political parties and government critics are arguing that Park's arrest was aimed at silencing criticism of the government and that it was restricted online freedom of speech.
Park, 30, described himself as a former securities firm employee with a master's degree obtained in the United States and experience in the field of corporate acquisitions. However, prosecutors said he was an unemployed Seoul resident, who studied economics on his own after graduating from a vocational high school and junior college with a major in information and communication.
Park made some 280 postings on bulletin boards on a popular Internet portal under the pen name of "Minerva" (the Greek goddess of wisdom) denouncing the government's handling of the economy and making largely negative predictions. It should be highlighted that some of his predictions, including the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, proved correct, which only increased the public interest in his online postings.
He is being accused of falsely writing that the government had banned major financial institutions and trade businesses from buying U.S. dollars. His identity became public after his arrest in January. The prosecutors sought an 18-month prison sentence.
At the same time, opposition political parties and government critics are arguing that Park's arrest was aimed at silencing criticism of the government and that it was restricted online freedom of speech.