The reason the government decided to be so bold in investing in Hwang's research was because his work had been recognized by the world's most prestigious scientific journal. Indeed, nothing assures the reliability of someone's research like being published in Science, which enjoys international recognition. It is not that there Korea had no means to verify the authenticity of Hwang's accomplishments, but those do not compete with Science when it comes to international confidence. You can criticize the government for problems that came up later, but you cannot entirely blame it for the having allocated those funds at the time.
The problem was what happened after that. There were many opportunities to make a critical examination of Hwang's article, such as when the journal Nature started asking questions about ethical practices, when the MBC television program PD Sucheop began discussing allegations that the article had been based on fabricated data, when research team member Kim Seon Jong came out and said the data had been fabricated, and when young scientists in Korea also suggested the data had been manipulated. Cheong Wa Dae officials chose to ignore the questions. They tried to have the issues patched up and pretend nothing was the matter. The decisive moment came when president Roh Moo Hyun said he "hopes to see questions about verifying the findings wrapped up."
Incompetent government makes the people suffer, but government that does not tell the truth makes the people feel hopeless. You can endure suffering, but not hopelessness. President Roh's silence, his failure to speak when it is time to do so, is disappointing.
The Hankyoreh, 20 December 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
