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| Hwang Scandal Reveals a Fractured Society |
| The pitched battle between conservative and liberal media centered on truth vs. national pride |
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Jean K. Min (jean)  |
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Published 2005-12-28 17:40 (KST) |
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 | |  Hwang Woo Suk answers questions at a press conference held at Seoul National University on Dec. 16. | | | ©2005 Kwon W.S. | |
Hwang Woo Suk's stem cell fabrication scandal has exposed a decades-old
ideological fault line lurking in the bedrock of Korean society.
Since the first tumultuous days after Korean TV broadcaster MBC broke
the story about the fabrications of the stem cell paper published in
the journal Science
last month, sociology students have made Korea into a huge research lab
in its own right. For them, the issues behind the massive scandal have
encapsulated Korea's political and social conflicts.
Kang Joon Man, media observer who teaches journalism in Jeonbuk
National University pointed out that "Hwang was a rare kind in the
society where silence and single-minded focus on research work are
praised as the virtues of sincere scientists."
For a scientist, he was not afraid to appear on national television and
seemed even to enjoy making public appearances. His perceived
embellishment of the imminent potential of his stem cell research often
raised the ire of his peers, but his succinct language and popular
communication style bought him huge public support among Koreans, Kang
observed.
A local publicist based in Seoul noted that his dexterity in handling
media interviews would match that of her clients who finished
first-rate media training sessions. She added that judging from Hwang's
almost daily media appearances over the past couple of years, one might
wonder if he ever had time for the research at his research lab at
Seoul National University.
This goes a long way to explain why the Korean press belatedly jumped
on the Hwang-bashing bandwagon after MBC's current affairs program "PD
Notebook" broke the flabbergasting story about the fabrication of
research in the journal Science. Most in the Korean media seemed to have no courage to stand up to Hwang and his popular following.
It is clear that mostly progressive and liberal Korean media, including
MBC and other Internet news media, led to Hwang's unmasking. Their
reporting stands in stark contrast to the pro-Hwang reports led mainly
by conservative dailies and YTN, a 24-hour Korean cable news channel.
Chosun Ilbo, a top conservative daily in Korea, did its best to
protect Hwang from the inquisitive journalists and probing eyes of
young scientists on the Web. Instead of asking tough questions and
demanding that he dispel mounting suspicions, the daily denounced the
producers of "PD Notebook" for breaches of journalistic ethics that
came to light after the first program was aired; these included
bullying tactics to get a confession from Kim Sun Jong, Hwang's junior
research colleague in the University of Pittsburgh, for which MBC later
apologized publicly.
As if to reward the Chosun Ilbo for its depiction of Hwang
as a "victim," the Seoul National University professor granted
exclusive interviews to the paper not once but three times, while the
rest of the press were camped outside his research lab. It seemed that
the Chosun Ilbo was almost determined to play the role of a mouthpiece for Hwang.
Meanwhile, YTN, which together with the Chosun Ilbo was the
most belligerent critic of MBC, was found last night to have helped Ahn
Curie to carry over US$30,000 to Kim Sun Jong, who at the time was in
the Pittsburgh. It was reported that Ahn asked the reporter of YTN to
bring $10,000, the maximum sum allowed by law for an international
traveler.
YTN later interviewed Kim Sun Jong in his Pittsburgh lab and reported
extensively about the ethical breaches MBC producers committed during
their earlier interview with him. However they omitted sections of the
interview that show Kim Sun Jong actually confirming his earlier
testimony about Hwang's request to fabricate 11 stem cells pictures out
of two that were submitted to the journal Science.
YTN was also found to have traveled to U.S with the financial support
of Hwang's lab, raising questions about its own ethical standards.
Ahn said yesterday that the money was offered to Kim to help him
recover from the shock he had been through after his first interview
with MBC. He tried to kill himself after he confessed to MBC producer,
Ahn alleged. Despite her explanation, questions remain about whether
Hwang's team was trying to bribe Kim to change his initial MBC
testimony in a subsequent YTN interview.
Overall, Koreans are feeling remorse and despair after Hwang's
international disgrace but many still refuse to back down on the
veracity of stem cell techniques Hwang's team insist they have
mastered.
However, a Dec. 17 The New York Times editorial wrote
"science and journalism in South Korea are vigorous and independent
despite this huge black mark," referring to the discrepancies in photos
and other data that were largely brought to light by "young Korean
scientists and crusading Korean journalists."
The pitched battle between conservative and liberal media was really
about whether Korean society should choose the track of truth or
national pride -- albeit on false pretenses. Koreans can find solace in
the fact that the journalists who refused to give up on their pursuit
of the truth came out on top.
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©2005 OhmyNews
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