Editorial] Hwang's 'Partners in Crime' Must Be Held Accountable

A Seoul National University (SNU) inquiry has confirmed that professors Hwang Woo Suk's 2005 article in the journal Science was based on falsified data. All that remains is verifying how much of it was false, and whether the technology to produce patient-specific stem cells actually exists or not. Now that professor Hwang's lie has been confirmed, verification of the authenticity of the 2004 article in the same journal and the cow and dog he is supposed to have cloned becomes inevitable, even if secondary issues.

Watching a "hero" take that kind of fall leaves you with a complex set of feelings, regardless of whether you support him or are a critic. Hwang may feel upset about how he lied is such a big way that there was no way to keep events from taking their course. Public opinion in support of him was as strong as could possibly be, but has since melted like snow in spring. He has been thrown out naked into the desolate wilderness, and now he has been left exposed to attacks by the cleanup crew of the prairie. He has resigned, but SNU's professors' association is calling on school officials to remove him. There are calls for him to be prosecuted immediately. He destroyed international confidence in Korea and bruised the hearts of the people, so he needs to accept the criticism and the responsibility.

In the meantime it would not be desirable to have the whole affair put to rest by assigning all the responsibility for what transpired with professor Hwang. A scientist can only commit fraud against the world when the academic community, the political world, and society are in a co-conspiring relationship. There needs to be an inquiry into the academic community and government officialdom as well as professor Hwang to see how it was possible to fabricate the data and how people overlooked, tolerated, and then even attempted to cover it up. Only by doing so can the loss this has been to the people be meaningful and valuable lesson. In that sense the statement from the SNU professors' association is particularly noteworthy: "The academic community, the media, politicians, scientists, and the Ministry of Science and Technology are all accomplices in this case."

The Hankyoreh, 24 December 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]