Minerva, Criminal or Victim?
By Choi Hye-seon, Tribune Reporter
On January 7th, Park Dae-seong who often writes economic forecasts on the Internet with the pen name ‘Minerva’ was arrested for spreading falsehoods. Especially, he predicted the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings and became famous after some of his prospects came true. Many Korean netizens criticized the Korean government and said that the arrest of Minerva was an absurd and shameful incident because the government’s action was so excessive and foolish. Some foreigners even criticized the government’s action as a ridiculous event. His arrest became a controversial issue in Korea. The Minerva incident also spread to other countries and many foreign news agencies reported it.
The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, reported the reasons why Minerva had been arrested by naming him as a suppressed financial online president. It also placed a great deal on the March crisis rumor related to Japanese economy which Minerva had predicted in his article. Moreover, on the Minerva issue, the government offered no formal comments but emphasized that there was growing criticism that the prosecution was abusing its indictment duty and the arrest of Minerva infringed the freedom of speech on January 9th.
The Financial Times, a British newspaper, reported on January 8th that the arrest and possible imprisonment of Minerva came from Korean government’s panic over him and other web-based rumor-mongers and it would raise profound questions about the freedom of speech. It also said the case reflected a greater concern about the political role of the Internet in Korea. According to these reports, the newspaper seemed to emphasize the Korean government intended to regulate the Internet and counter the influence of Internet chat-rooms, and it might be the real purpose of the Minerva’s arrest.
The Agence France Presse briefly explained on January 10th what the Minerva incident was based on, his statements in court to plead not guilty to charges of spreading false information online. It also reported this case reignited a heated debate over freedom of speech in cyberspace and the tightening of regulations in Korea. It suggested Minerva might be not guilty but the Korean government managed Minerva’s case too seriously, and seemed to emphasize that freedom of speech on the Internet should be legally protected.
Reuters, a news agency of the United Kingdom, called Minerva ‘a prophet of doom’ and emphasized it would be very important to punish the accused of spreading false information on the Internet. It quoted a law professor’s interview, “Should Park be punished, it should be for his conduct.” By quoting the report of the Hankyoreh Daily which compares his arrest a witch hunt, calling the Minerva case an infringement of speech freedom, it also said the Korean government has turned increasingly sensitive to negative comments due to its economic policies and economy analysts who have come under pressure from officials not to voice negative views on the economy. It saw these situations as strange occurrences and its view of the Minerva incident strongly showed by this news company publishing a story in a section entitled “Oddly Enough”.
Die Zeit, a periodical of Germany, published an article sarcastically commenting on the Minerva incident. It compared him to Cassandra who was a miserable predictor on December 17th. According to this article, Korea as viewed by the German press, is strange to understand because Koreans found a solution to the economic crisis from an anonymous contributor on the Internet. The writer criticized that many Korean people blindly believed unofficial information on the Internet and paid their respects to the blogger based on his unofficial and personal opinions.
As mentioned above, several examples of foreign press seem to support Minerva and criticize that the Korean government was suppressing the freedom of speech. They emphasize the government should not restrain the freedom of speech and expression. Through the Minerva case, the Korean government’s intention to impose legal control over freedom of speech on the Internet was disclosed clearly. The Minerva incident is still under investigation as a controversial issue in Korea.
* Chonnam Tribune will report how the foreign press views particular incidents in Korea or domestic matters in this new column from this issue.