Seoul court set to decide whether to allow detention of cyber pundit

SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court was set to decide Saturday whether to approve of a controversial move by state 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.

Earlier this week, prosecutors apprehended an unemployed 30-year-old man whom
they believe is the author of over 100 online posts critical of the government's
handling of the economy, widely known by his Internet alias, "Minerva."
Investigators claimed that the blogger, only identified by his surname, Park,
misguided the public late last month with false claims that the government
ordered financial institutes and major corporations to stop buying dollars in
order to curb the local currency's fall against the greenback.
But Park's supporters say his arrest would be an infringement of the right to
freedom of speech, accusing the prosecution of attempting to crack down on
bloggers critical of the conservative government that came to power early last
year.
In a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on Saturday, Park admitted to
being the online author but said he wrote to help those vulnerable to the
economic downswing.
"I had the untainted intention to help the powerless, but I'm sorry that it led
to confusion," he said. "I never meant to profit from these posts."
Park, who claimed to be an average old man as he used Internet portal Daum to
criticize the government in an often unpolished language, was even dubbed an
"economic czar online" by some media.
His followers say he predicted the fall of Lehman Brothers and the plunge of the
local currency against the U.S. dollar. Some of his comments even led the finance
minister to issue rebuttals.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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