Choe Sang-hun has written the best article yet in regards to Korean blogger Minerva that was arrested for spreading false information on the Internet.  Make sure to read the whole article, but here is an excellent observation by Choe that explains why the Internet culture is so popular in Korea:

His postings sharpened the tension between the country’s online and offline cultures.

Off the Web, South Korea remains a traditional Confucian society. Seniority and hierarchy rule.

Online, South Korea is a very different place. Emboldened by cyberspace anonymity, Koreans flout decorum and have turned the Internet into a free-for-all forum for rabble-rousing and name-calling, so much so that many officials see the Internet as a hotbed of antigovernment activity and slander. Many who joined the anti-American beef protests that crippled Mr. Lee’s government last summer were responding to online rumors about the health risks of American meat.

These two cultures clashed when prosecutors formed an unprecedented “anti-false information task force” and arrested Mr. Park.  [New York Times via The Korean Economic Reader]

Since the unmasking of Minerva as an umemployed 31 year old named Park Dae-sung his real life status caught up to him as he lost his online fan base he built off of lies about his background.  In the article Park says he wants to emmigrate somewhere off the peninsula somewhere and will never blog in Korea again.  I’m not sure if he really needs leave Korea because this will all eventually blow over, but I think it would be wise for him to quit blogging.