A Seoul court has upheld the arrest of a blogger accused of spreading false economic information on the Internet, a defense lawyer said Friday. The 31-year-old blogger identified only by his surname, Park was arrested last week.
He is accused of posting false information on an Internet discussion site last month saying the government had ordered major financial institutions and trade businesses not to purchase U.S. dollars in an apparent move to shore up the local currency. Widely known by the Internet handle "Minerva," the mystery blogger had become a minor celebrity when some of his dire predictions about the economy came true.
But prosecutors said false information posted by Park upset the foreign exchange market. His arrest has ignited a debate about freedom of speech in cyberspace in South Korea, one of the world’s most wired and tech-savvy nations.
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