When a Seoul court cleared the controversial Internet blogger Park Dae-sung, better known by his alias “Minerva,” of charges that he spread misleading information about the economy or that he intended to harm public interests, there was no one happier than Kim Tae-dong, an economic professor at Sungkyunkwan University, who had stood as a witness.

In response to the news that the prosecution intends to appeal the ruling, Kim said, “If granted a fair trial, he will be acquitted by the appeals court.”

Kim began expressing his support for Minerva in November and launched a campaign in January when the blogger was arrested during which he uploaded five pieces of commentary on a bulletin board of Daum, the nation’s second-largest Internet portal, arguing that Minerva was innocent. On April 14, Kim posted a video clip in English on YouTube titled, “Minerva and Freedom of Speech” in order to inform the world about what was unfolding in South Korea. By April 21, the video had drawn 28,000 viewers.

Why is Kim, a former senior presidential secretary for economic affairs under the President Kim Dae-jung government, so supportive of Minerva?

Since September, Kim also became critical of the government’s inability to appropriately respond to South Korea’s “second financial crisis,” and what some consider an erosion of the nation’s overseas credibility. According to Kim, “Park was the person who accurately diagnosed the situation, when the market did not believe the government, and predicted that things would get tougher.” He also said, “I decided to take action on the belief that it was not right to arrest such a person as it violated the freedom of speech.”

Kim said that the arrest of Minerva also runs counter to President Lee Myung-bak’s “business-friendly” policy. “A　market-based economy cannot flourish under information asymmetry where information abounds in one area and is scarce in another. Information should flow freely, but violating an individuals’ free speech rights and cracking down on media freedom prevents that from happening,” Kim said.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]