Leading newspaper apologizes for interview with bogus blogger

(ATTN: ADDS reaction from prosecutors, blogger's attorney from para 7)
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- A leading South Korean newspaper apologized Tuesday
for its sister magazine's interview with a man who pretended to be Minerva, the
jailed online pundit who drew national attention for his critical analysis of the
Korean economy.
The conservative Dong-a Ilbo ran the front-page apology for stories published by
its monthly magazine, Shin Dong-A, under the name Minerva. The paper said a man
identified only by the initial K had given an interview and contributed an
article to the magazine under the alias.
The real Minerva, a 30-year-old resident of Seoul whose last name is Park, was
arrested in early January and was indicted on charges of spreading an on-line
rumor that the government ordered local banks not to buy U.S. dollars in late
December as part efforts to stabilize the local currency.
Minerva's sensational postings, one of which accurately predicted the collapse of
U.S. lending giant Lehman Brothers, gained widespread popularity in South Korea,
one of the world's most wired nations.
Shin Dong-A had cited the interview with the man falsely claiming to be Minerva
to raise questions over whether Park, the suspect in custody, was in fact the
real Minerva. The magazine claimed that Minerva was actually a group of seven
financial market experts, none of whom was Park.
In its apology, the Dong-a Ilbo said it had determined that K was not the real
Minerva through an internal "confirmation process," adding that it has formed a
panel, which included outside legal and media experts, to investigate the
erroneous interview.
Prosecutors reacted to the apology, saying that K's confession to his fake
identity was a natural outcome.
"Despite the identity controversy, there was no doubt that Park was the real
Minerva from the beginning of the investigation," an official at the Seoul
Central District Prosecutors' Office said.
Park Chan-jong, an attorney from the legal team representing the arrested
blogger, urged the magazine to apologize to his client for the "enormous mental
shock" sustained by him due to the false identity claims.
"Above all, the magazine should apologize to Park and explain how it made such a
mistake. We will consider filing criminal and civil suits against the Shin Dong-A
magazine," he said.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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