By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter

The arrest of a wildly popular Internet financial pundit, better known as ``Minerva," is raising new questions about Korea's Internet culture and pitfalls of anonymous online postings.

Last Thursday, Korean authorities announced that they arrested a 31-year old man named Park Dae-sung on charges that he had spread false information online, including making allegations that Korea's won currency was in danger of collapsing.

But with the arrest last week, local Korean media are asking how a single individual armed with Internet access can wield so much influence in society and attract so much recognition within the span of a few months.

One newspaper report asked over the weekend: ``Could this Minerva have been possible if Internet postings were not anonymous? What if he was forced to make his commentaries with his actual identity for all to see?"

``This Minerva phenomenon was possible only because Korea's Internet allowed for and even nurtured anonymous writings and commentaries on the Web," according to the report.

Observers note that Korea's online discussion culture is radically different from that of the more traditional means of communication. Korea's Internet users, ``netizens," can avoid using their real names when posting commentaries and participating in online discussion forums. And this fosters an environment where there is little accountability and personal attacks and outlandish claims are commonplace, according to local reports.

Newspaper reports also noted a similarity between the ``Minerva" phenomenon and what had occurred at the ``Agora" talk forum during the height of the anti-U.S. beef protest movement last summer. Reports noted that, in both instances, a few unnamed Internet users were allowed to wield major influence on the Internet community, exploiting the Web's unique characteristics.

The ``Agora" is an online discussion forum run by major Internet portal Daum. It is the nation's biggest online forum, attracting more than two million unique visitors every day.

Last summer, when citizens and Internet users took to the streets to protest the resumption of U.S. beef imports, ``Agora" had played a leading role in shaping and organizing the movement. But reports note that despite its millions of visitors, most of the commentaries were posted by just a few thousand active online pundits. Internet market research firm Matrix had reported that only about 2,000 online pundits were responsible for posting some 370,000 commentaries.

Reports point out Minerva was also a creature of Korea's unique Internet environment. The online pundit had posted more than 200 commentaries using the alias ``Minerva," the Greek goddess of wisdom.

He first gained notoriety when he allegedly predicted the oncoming collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. He has also been posting a series of articles critical of the Lee Myung-bak administration's economic policies. In December, he wrote that the administration had forced major financial institutions to stop buying dollars in order to prop up the won. The government strongly denied the allegation.

Using the Web's anonymity, Minerva had also allegedly fudged his background. He was rumored to be a retired financial market expert in his 50s, with an advanced degree from a major overseas university. Authorities now say the online pundit has no formal training in finances and that much of his economic knowledge came from Internet searches.

If convicted of spreading false reports on the Internet, Minerva could be sentenced to five years in prison or a fine of 50 million won.

michaelha@koreatimes.co.kr