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Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan publicly wept over a scandal surrounding
cloning expert Prof. Hwang Woo-suk. Asked in a Christmas interview with
the Pyeonghwa Shinmun and PBC how the Korean people can overcome damage
from the scandal, Korea¡¯s most senior Catholic spoke a few words with
trembling lips and then dropped his head and remained silent for
several minutes. The interview was taped last Friday. Whenever doubts are cast on Hwang¡¯s achievements, Cardinal Kim
said he hoped they were unfounded. ¡°But some of the suspicions have now
turned out to be true, and this case has brought disgrace on the Korean
people in the international community,¡± he said before being overcome.
The cardinal was handed a handkerchief and wiped off his tears. When he
was able to continue speaking, he said God gave cleverness to Koreans
but some apparently misused it. Then he again fell silent and dropped
his head.
Kim said the case concerned everybody. ¡°We should not limit this case
to Hwang¡¯s article only, and we must learn a lesson from here. Ruthless
honesty is the cure and the only way to save the situation,¡± he said. The cleric also expressed strong opposition to a newly amended private school law.
¡°Although corruption in private schools must be eradicated, we
should not generalize the problems of a minority as if they were those
of the majority of schools,¡± he said. The government exaggerates a
problem that only affects 2 percent of private schools, he said. Kim
said there was a good reason why all private schools regardless of
their different foundation philosophies are united in protest against
the new law. He also expressed skepticism about the political intention
behind the railroading of the bill over the objections of the majority.
The cardinal predicted continuous strife between school
administrators and teachers once 20 percent of their boards are made up
of teacher and parent representatives under the revision. Kim added the
hope that President Roh Moo-hyun will respect the voice of private
schools and exercise his veto. (englishnews@chosun.com )
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