Hwang is Convicted
Hwang Woo-Suk, the notorious Korean stem-cell and cloning researcher, was given a suspended two-year prison sentence and three years of probation by a Seoul court on Monday. He was convicted on criminal charges related to his false claims to have produced cloned human embryos and derived stem cell lines from them.
The details remain a little unclear for those of us who have not read the full 250-page verdict, let alone the 20,000 pages of associated documents, and have to rely on English-language reports from the Korean press. Hwang was found innocent of fraudulently obtaining research funds, but guilty of embezzling about $700,000 (830 million won) -- though that may have been "for scientific deeds and not for personal use," according to the court, as reported in the Korea Herald.
Hwang was also convicted of illegally trading in human eggs, which was an important part of how the story was broken in the first place. This was a clear violation of the Bioethics and Safety Act, acknowledged as such by the court, "even if he did so for scientific research."
Two of Hwang's Seoul National University colleagues were fined for misappropriating research funds: Lee Byung-chun is to pay about $25,500 (30 million won) and Kang Sung-keun about $8,500. Another associate, Kim Sun-jong, received the same suspended sentence and probation as Hwang did, and neither of them seems to have been fined.
Hwang's light sentence was said by the judge to reflect the fact that "he has truly repented for his crime," even though he "did not return the money." It's worth noting that two petitions calling for leniency, signed by 22 and 33 elected legislators, were presented to the court, and that supporters cheered the verdict. Basically, it seems that he got away with it.
Hwang's lawyer indicated that he would not appeal, but reports indicate that the prosecution will, at least on the charges of fraud in obtaining research funding. The judge evidently accepted that Hwang applied for funds in the honest belief that the process would work, and perhaps without knowing at the time that his subordinates had faked data. It is not clear if the suspended sentence can be revisited for the charges on which the conviction rests.
The prosecutors never filed charges about the faked publications themselves, which some consider a mistake. It seems that this was considered something to be dealt with within the scientific community. Hwang did lose his job, though he has since found funding for his own research facilities, which up to now have largely focused on dog cloning. The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare revoked his license to perform human stem-cell research and refused to change that decision earlier this year.
This is big news in Korea, of course, but seems to have been treated with less interest in the U.S. The L.A. Times carried its own report, the New York Times had a brief one and, like others, reprinted the AP story. Several scientists were quoted, in Nature News and elsewhere, condemning Hwang and suggesting that he remain beyond the pale. Perhaps the most interesting conclusion came from the science correspondent of the London Times, Mark Henderson, who opined:
Hwang's fraud was certainly an unedifying chapter for science, but it does not now seem to have seriously set back the progress of regenerative medicine. It may even have advanced the field, by killing much of the hype about therapeutic cloning and diverting talent and resources into areas with greater long-term potential.
Previously on Biopolitical Times: