I was astonished to read today that the South Korean government has arrested 31-year-old Park Dae-sung, blogger, because his economic forecasts have been so accurate.
Apparently his specific predictions of such events as the collapse of US Investment Bank Lehman Brothers and the decline of the South Korean currency has outraged the powers that be.
They accuse him of other ridiculous-sounding things, as well. It looks to me to be simply an attack on free speech in South Korea. But here’s the article I read, from the BBC International web site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7839375.stm
By the way, I glanced at the Korean Composite Stock Price Index (the KOSPI) just moments ago. It’s the main tracking index for the 200 largest, most liquid issues traded in South Korea:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=%5EKS11&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=&a=&c=
This Index is sick. It is extremely likely that the KOSPI will shortly end its sideways corrective phase (which began in late October, 2008) and be followed by a plunge that will shake Korean investors.
I suggest that the government of South Korea free Park Dae-sung immediately so that he can carry on his vital work of forecasting.
What do you think? Is the arrest of Park Dae-sung outrageous? What can we do about it? The final two lines of the BBC article sickened me:
“Park Dae-sung has now been denied bail and is awaiting trial.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in jail.”
Your ideas and comments are welcome.
James Leo Donoghue
Apparently his specific predictions of such events as the collapse of US Investment Bank Lehman Brothers and the decline of the South Korean currency has outraged the powers that be.
They accuse him of other ridiculous-sounding things, as well. It looks to me to be simply an attack on free speech in South Korea. But here’s the article I read, from the BBC International web site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7839375.stm
By the way, I glanced at the Korean Composite Stock Price Index (the KOSPI) just moments ago. It’s the main tracking index for the 200 largest, most liquid issues traded in South Korea:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=%5EKS11&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=&a=&c=
This Index is sick. It is extremely likely that the KOSPI will shortly end its sideways corrective phase (which began in late October, 2008) and be followed by a plunge that will shake Korean investors.
I suggest that the government of South Korea free Park Dae-sung immediately so that he can carry on his vital work of forecasting.
What do you think? Is the arrest of Park Dae-sung outrageous? What can we do about it? The final two lines of the BBC article sickened me:
“Park Dae-sung has now been denied bail and is awaiting trial.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in jail.”
Your ideas and comments are welcome.
James Leo Donoghue
There were comments on this blog, all agreeing more or less with what I wrote. Regrettably, all comments on all my blogs were lost as the site's controllers changed over time. JL Donoghue
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