Financial blogger arrested in South Korea (on Financial Times)
South Korea said on Thursday it had arrested an elusive blogger accused of undermining the country’s financial markets with his doom-mongering, ending a case that has illustrated government unease with the growing influence of online gossip in the world’s most-wired economy….“Minerva”, who was arrested on Wednesday, has become a celebrated online guru in South Korea during the crisis. He gained instant kudos for what were seen as uncannily accurate utterances on the fall of Lehman Brothers and the crash of the Korean won, which plunged 26 per cent against the dollar last year….The Korean government’s panic over Minerva and other web-based rumour-mongers reflects a greater concern about the political role of the internet in South Korea, the country with the world’s greatest per capita access to cyberspace.
Old news, but interesting nonetheless. I hadn’t read about it until recently since from what I can gather, it didn’t really attract any media attention outside of its native country
Minerva was a netizen on Daum Agora, one of the largest Korean online communities who suspiciously predicted many financial developments to occur through the last year. His predictions were so true that it attracted the attention of a growingly concerned government which led to the supposed arrest of a man that was claimed to be Minerva under the charge “with the crime of electronically spreading false rumors that damage the public good.”
Unsurprisingly it drew a lot of flak from both the online community and normal citizens who were growing concerned over how the arrest was even justified. If Minerva had simply “stolen” information or was charged with a similar crime, justification could be argued. But this wasn’t even the case.
There has been little update since his arrest and draws up questions over free speech, the notions of internet anonymity, and simply…how his charge is even relevant given most of his predictions were in fact true. It also raises concern for how insecure the Korean government is right now over its financial state, not to mention most nations around the world likewise. The Wikipedia entry on this is quite informative and holistic for those seeking further information. Linked below:
