Prognosticator ‘Minerva’ is acquitted by a Seoul court

Park Dae-sung, known as “Minerva,” talks to reporters yesterday after his release from the Seoul Detention Center. By Kim Do-hun

A 31-year-old blogger whose prolific 2008 predictions shook officialdom was acquitted yesterday of charges that he spread false information about the Lee Myung-bak administration’s financial and economic policies through the Internet.

Park Dae-sung, better known by his pseudonym “Minerva,” was released immediately after the acquittal. Since his Jan. 7 arrest, the blogger has been in pretrial detention on charges of violating the country’s electronic communications law.

“Taking into account various circumstances, Park did not appear to have been aware that contents of his postings were misleading,” said Judge Yu Yeong-hyeon of the Seoul Central District Court. “Even if he knew that the information were false, it is hard to say that he intended to harm the public interest, taking into account the situation at the time and the special nature of foreign currency markets.”

The prosecution immediately challenged the ruling. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it will file an appeal, arguing that the judge has misunderstood the case by selectively interpreting admissible evidence.

Shortly after his release, Park said, “Democracy is not something big. It’s about caring for the small things.” The blogger said he will continue writing, adding that “I will refine my expressions from now on so that my writing can be more acceptable.”

Park was the author of about 280 posts, often critical of the government’s policies, uploaded on Daum’s Agora Internet forum between March 2008 and Jan. 5 of this year. In those postings, he successfully predicted both the fall of Lehman Brothers and the weakening of the won, gaining popularity in cyberspace.

In January, prosecutors charged Park with violating Korea’s electronic communications law in two of his postings. The law, established in the pre-Internet era, prohibits spreading of false information with intent to harm the public interest. Such a crime can be punished with up to five years’ imprisonment or fined up to 50 million won ($37,500).

In his July 30, 2008 posting, Minerva stated that the government would suspend trading of its foreign currency reserves beginning Aug. 1. In another posting on Dec. 29, Minerva said that the government had ordered major banks and exporters not to purchase dollars, causing an upswing in dollar demand, prosecutors said.

The government denied the claims.

Prosecutors argued that Park had harmed the public interest by spreading false information while being aware that he was a highly recognized figure in cyberspace. They also said Park’s actions caused intangible losses - such as a weakened sovereign rating - as well as tangible losses in the country’s foreign currency market.

Prosecutors sought an 18-month jail sentence, but Judge Yu said Park did not intend to spread false information or harm the public interest.

Park Chan-jong, the blogger’s lawyer, welcomed the acquittal. “This proves that the government has overreacted to Internet criticism,” the lawyer said. “The ruling put a serious damper on the current administration’s enthusiasm to control the Internet. It opens up a path to protect press freedom in cyberspace.”

The country’s liberal civic groups also welcomed the ruling. “The acquittal is based on the most conservative interpretation of the law,” the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said in a press statement. “At the same time, we hope that the ruling will end the practice of unreasonable prosecution of people with critical opinions of the government policies.”

Song Ho-chang of Lawyers for a Democratic Society also said the prosecution’s latest attempt to control freedom of speech will now end.

The Minerva trial caught international attention. On the eve of the sentencing, Reporters Without Borders called on the court to acquit Park, claiming that punishment against the blogger will make Korea’s judicial system “an accomplice to a government strategy designed to intimidate Internet users who express their views on financial subjects.”

The Lee administration denied allegations that it had orchestrated the crackdown against Park.

Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said before the National Assembly that the government never requested the probe, and that prosecutors launched Park’s investigation on their own.

While liberal groups hailed the acquittal, conservatives said they would await the final word from the Supreme Court.

By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]