Anger and a sense of betrayal marked the reaction on Friday to an
announcement by a Seoul National University panel that cloning expert
Hwang Woo-suk deliberately fabricated research results for a paper on
patient-specific stem cells this year. Politicians, academics and a
public that had until recently been staunchly supportive were united in
their disappointment.
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Disgraced cloning expert Prof. Hwang Woo-suk bows after a press conference on Friday.
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¡°I trusted Hwang. I don¡¯t know how to handle this sense of betrayal and
shame,¡± a Netizen who spoke for many said in a message. Only shortly
before the panel¡¯s announcement, members of ¡°I Love HWS¡±, an online
support group, had proposed to stage a candlelight vigil to support the
scientist, saying the panel¡¯s interim results would be the exactly what
they expected. Politicians chorused that the controversy over Hwang¡¯s stem cell
research should not discourage development and funding for
state-of-the-art biotechnology. Uri Party spokesman Jeon Byung-heon
urged caution, saying Hwang¡¯s research manipulation was regrettable but
it was necessary to wait and see until the panel decides whether he
nonetheless has the source technology to produce patient-specific stem
cells from cloned embryos. Main opposition Grand National Party spokesman Lee Kye-jin
said the party would restrain itself until the final investigation
results come out. However, he urged an investigation into the extent of
Choeng Wa Dae¡¯s collusion in the case. A spokesman for the minor
opposition Democratic Labor Party, Park Yong-jin, called the revelation
a scandal and expressed the party¡¯s disappointment that SNU put all the
blame on Hwang despite failing to supervise his research properly. In the academic world, voices calling for Hwang¡¯s dismissal
grew louder. Prof. Chang Ho-wan, the chairman of SNU¡¯s Council of
Professors, released a statement on Friday demanding that all who took
part in fabricating the results be stripped of their posts. "It is the weak, those who suffer from incurable diseases, who
were the object of this fraud and academic fabrication, making it an
unforgivable offense of the worst possible kind,¡± the statement said.
¡°The university must dismiss Hwang and others involved in this forgery
and expel all of them from the academic world forever.¡± The council called for efforts to ¡°make good the confusion and
damage to the honor of the nation and its youth,¡± adding the university
¡°has to assume the ultimate responsibility.¡± It blamed academics,
politicians, scientists, the press and the Ministry of Science and
Technology for creating an environment where such outright fabrication
can take place, calling them ¡°accessories to the crime.¡± Meanwhile, Korean scientists studying at the University of
California in Los Angeles have started collecting signatures in a
campaign to punish Hwang and others concerned for the fabrication. (englishnews@chosun.com )
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