South Koreans Rush to Defend Cloning Researcher Against Criticism

SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 28 - Days after his televised fall from grace, Hwang Woo Suk, South Korea's cloning pioneer, re-emerged Monday as a national hero as the country rallied around him in an outpouring of nationalism and sympathy for the goals of his stem cell research.

"As a mother, I see the world differently," Hong Na Kyung, 31, a consultant, said when asked why she had signed up to donate her eggs for his laboratory research. "I want to see a better world and a better Korea for my children, and I think Dr. Hwang can help."

Ms. Hong was one of 760 South Korean women who have registered in the last week to donate eggs. The list included an entire high school class of 33 girls. A nonprofit egg donor foundation was started last week after Dr. Hwang admitted to covering up the fact that in 2002 and 2003, during an a shortage of human eggs for research purposes, two of his junior researchers donated their own eggs, and that about 20 other women had also been paid...