MINERVA -goddess of WISDOM(an interesting story in south korea)Case of Internet economic pundit Minerva roils South Korea AND (INTERNET PROPHET) NOT GUILTY IN COURT

Case of Internet economic pundit Minerva roils South Korea

Park Dae-sung is accused of spreading false rumors that damaged the government's reputation in the world financial market. The case has sparked debate over freedom of expression in South Korea.


Seoul — He was a self-styled Internet prophet, an economic pundit who went by the name of Minerva, after the Roman goddess of wisdom.

In regular weblogs posted last year that drew a cult-like following, Minerva pontificated on South Korea's spiraling economy, forecasting dire scenarios many domestic investors took to heart.


He was a genius, they claimed, a mysterious inside trader with a Drudge-like acumen for scoops that uncannily predicted the unfolding global economic crisis.

He foretold the collapse of Lehman Bros., the U.S. investment bank, and anticipated the resulting plunge of the South Korea currency, the won, all the while castigating policymakers for their blunders.

But prosecutors say Minerva crossed the line.

In a Dec. 29 posting, the online commentator wrote that the South Korean government had ordered financial institutions to stop buying dollars in order to curb the won's fall against the greenback.

The posting devastated the local foreign exchange market, forcing the nation's financial authority to spend $2 billion of its reserves as the demand for dollars surged wildly, prosecutors claim.

This month, investigators arrested a 30-year-old man who they say has admitted to being Minerva. They have criminally charged him with spreading false rumors on the Internet that damaged the government's reputation in the world financial market.

Today, a handcuffed Park Dae-sung appeared in Seoul's Central District Court, dressed in a light-gray jail jumpsuit, his hair unruly, as his attorneys made a motion to dismiss the charges.

The arrest has pierced the Minerva mystique. Park has allegedly told authorities that he has never invested in stocks nor gained financially from his postings.

Park, who is unemployed, says he briefly attended community college and never believed his writings would jeopardize his nation's economy.

"I'm not a serial killer," he reportedly told his lawyers before the proceeding. "Frankly, I'm scared. It's scary that I should talk with my hands handcuffed."

The Minerva case has triggered a fierce debate here over freedom of expression in South Korea. Park's supporters insist he was merely a blogger expressing his opinions and that the charges against him jeopardize the integrity of the nation's Internet culture.

Prosecutors counter that the government needs to bring more accountability to Internet postings.


source :LosAngeles times: 01-16 2009:

S. Korean Court Finds 'Minerva' Not Guilty
A Seoul court Monday acquitted a controversial online pundit accused of causing financial losses to the country by spreading misleading information.

Park Dae-sung, 30, better known by his Internet alias "Minerva," was arrested in early January and was indicted on charges of spreading online rumors that the government ordered local banks not to buy U.S. dollars as part of efforts to stabilize the local currency.

The prosecution claims the posting in December led to dollar hoarding, forcing the government to hurriedly inject $2 billion to stabilize the currency market. The prosecution had sought an 18-month prison term.

"When considering all the circumstances, it is hard to conclude that Park was aware the information was misleading when he wrote the postings," Judge Yoo Young-hyun of the Seoul Central District Court said in the ruling.

The judge also said that even if Park had realized that the information was false, it cannot be concluded that he had the intent to hurt public interest, considering the circumstances at the time or the special characteristics of the foreign exchange market.

Minerva's sensational postings gained a massive following after he accurately predicted the collapse of U.S. lending giant Lehman Brothers last year. He followed up with a series of pieces criticizing the government's economic policies, which spread quickly through the Internet in one of the world's most wired nations

SOURCE: KOREATIMES:04-20-2009 14:59


The Real Lesson of the Minerva Case

Public opinion is divided on the arrest of Internet pundit Minerva. The prosecution holds that he violated a positive law when he posted false information on the Internet with intent to harm the public interest. But there are people who believe that is a flimsy excuse and that the arrest seriously infringes on the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Constitution.

I cannot readily agree to the notion that the exchange rate, which would have been rock-steady otherwise, tumbled at a word of Minerva. I believe the dollars in our foreign exchange market have "rationality," a premise of economics textbooks, and that market participants behave based on that premise. What's more, it's doubtful that the Ministry of Strategy and Finance will be able to testify in the court about its interference in the foreign exchange market, risking international criticism. It??s in the national interest to put an end to the Minerva controversy now, rather than waste time and energy on charges that are impossible to prove.

But aside from the problem of Minerva's legal position, there are some issues worth thinking about here.

One is the dignity of the state. How could our society become so wildly excited by Minerva's contentions? If his claims were accurate, the problem is that there were few others who told the same truths; if they were false, the problem is that our society gets horribly excited whenever such scurrilous claims are made. In either case, the Minerva phenomenon shows how low our standards are.

As a professor of economics, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility. If we had better economists, Minerva would not have attracted so many supporters or the flaws of his claims would have been exposed much faster.

For a country to achieve sustained economic growth, it needs to accumulate human capital. Only a country that continuously produces capable and more productive human capital alone can achieve the technological innovation essential for economic growth. The Minerva phenomenon plainly shows that our society has yet to accumulate sufficient human capital.

Of course educational institutions are primarily responsible for the accumulation of human capital. But they cannot alone be responsible. All sectors of society must take an interest in this problem, even more so in a recession where building of human capital is held up or accumulated human capital is liable to be consumed.

For example, the government recently said that 19,000 jobs will be lost in the structural reform of public agencies. With that, public agencies may save money in the short term, but the problem with our public sector is not the size of its manpower but an imbalance where some necessary sectors don't have enough staff while unnecessary ones have a surplus. In addition, careless structural reform often has the side effect of hampering the accumulation of human capital.

Think about it. If staff are being laid off, who will undertake to prepare human capital that will benefit the company? And those who are qualified will then strive to get qualifications that are useful for them elsewhere. Their family??s investment in human capital will become more difficult, and their weakened purchasing power can invite another recession. In the current recession, manpower in the public sector should be increased, not cut, to provide a buffer zone against possible huge layoffs in the private sector.

Our society needs better talent. We need better economic bureaucrats, better law enforcement officials and better market participants. It's the role of the state to produce more of them and guarantee that they can fulfill their aspirations in secure conditions. For that we need a long-term view and consistent investment. Talent cannot be grown within a few days like bean sprouts. That is where the true lesson from the Minerva phenomenon lies.

'Minerva' Arrest Makes Worldwide Headlines

The international press lapped up the arrest of economic doom oracle Park Dae-sung, better known by his pen-name "Minerva."

AP on Sunday reported the arrest of the 31-year old who posted critical comments about the government's handling of the economy on the Internet stoked hot debate over the freedom of expression in Korea.

AFP also said Park's arrest once again sparked debate on how much freedom of expression could be tolerated in cyberspace.

The Financial Times on Thursday, just after Park's arrest, said the panic response shown by the Korean government against Minerva and other so-called "rumor-mongers" demonstrated worries over the political influence of the Internet.



SOURCE: chosun.com :2009 11:35 KST

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JOSEPHPATROL@YAHOO.COM/FILE/JULY/23/2009/SULYAPPINOY.COM/23

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korek joseph, hindi lang sya ang nasa ganyang kaso but meron pa iba, and some of the famous Korean Bloggers are moving their blog servers from Korea to some other countries because of fear that the government will shut down their blogs.


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tama ka jan kabayan, we should be careful with our words, the freedom of expression is not a license to make false statements. napapanahon ang mensahe ng post mo na ito. Salamat kabayan sa mga nakakaaliw at makabuluhan na posts mo.

Salamat po sa pag share.basta po para sakin maging careful po tayo sa lahat ng salita na ating bibitawan para wala tayong masagasaan na tao.

This issue is very important to us because it help us to understand and to realize,what is the essence of a freedom of speech.most especially to minerva.we should be very careful with our words because it is very important.