Presidential Science Aide Got Funding from Hwang

The presidential advisor for science and technology Park Ky-young admitted Tuesday to a conflict of interest arising from W250 million (US$250,000) in research grants she received from the disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk. Hwang­îs motives have come under suspicion because although Park received the money when she was still a botanist at Sunchon National University in South Jeolla Province and before taking the Cheong Wa Dae post in 2004, she already had the president­îs ear at the time. She insists the funding was spent in a transparent manner.
"I accepted W150 million from Hwang, who was in charge of producing a BSE-resistant cow in December 2001, when I was working as a botany professor at Sunchon National University, to carry out research projects­ñ on social implications and research ethics, she said.

She said Hwang gave her another W100 million in June 2003, asking her to study the ethical and industrial impact of bio-organs, as part of a project on producing bio-organs by using transgenic cloning technology and developing transplant technology. Park was appointed presidential aide the following year.

The official...