The prosecution sought 18 months in jail for online commentator Park Dae-sung, better known by the penname Minerva, Monday.
The 31-year-old was indicted in January on charges of spreading false financial rumors on the nation's second portal Daum's bulletin board to allegedly destabilize the foreign currency market here.
Prosecutors nabbed him in January. They believe he is the author of over 100 online postings critical of the Lee Myung-bak government's handling of the economy.
Among the postings, prosecutors claimed they found fault with articles posted on July 30 and Dec. 29 last year.
Minerva made his name online after predicting the fall of Lehman Brothers and the plunge of the won against the U.S. dollar. The community college graduate has been touted as an ``oracle'' among liberal citizens and civic groups, while conservative pro-government people criticized him for undermining President Lee's leadership, calling him a ``doomsayer.'' His arrest triggered debates on freedom of speech in cyber space, drawing keen attention from the international media.
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Please stay on topic.
ziggy1337 (80.97.4.34)
04-15-2009 19:13
I thought South Korea had press freedom. I guess the SK "democracy" is not too far from it's northern kind.
McWiggins (87.118.104.203)
04-15-2009 05:21
Park Dae-sung did nothing wrong legally. The only thing he did wrong was cross your miserable, desperate and sad President Lee. The world is watching Dae-sung's situation, and it doesn't blink.
McWiggins (78.229.88.46)
04-15-2009 05:20
This is what happens when you anger your leadership in South Korea. President Lee does not like the truth. President Lee will do whatever it takes to take away your freedom, without any regard to justice, if the truth you speak threatens the stability of his rule. President Lee is a black mark on the face of South Korea. He's a pathetic, power hungry little man.
zbd21 (71.250.175.53)
04-14-2009 21:39
going to jail for posting bad projections on the economy? don't understand.
shinsh1120 (118.41.139.33)
04-14-2009 11:04
that's exactly like going back to the dictatorial goverment. Justice doesn't exist in s'korea anymore
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