Marmot has an update to this story on Dr. Hwang Woosuk and the controversy surrounding how he got egg donors, which provides more detail than I have time to today.
For now, all I will say is that while I can understand why advertisers might feel uncomfortable sponsoring an investigative program on MBC that might seem determined to sully a national hero, the very fact that MBC went ahead and did this undermines the echo chamber's notion that the Korean media is almost universally, hopelessly pro-Korean to the point of having blinders on. Had Marmot not brought this story to the English-speaking blogosphere's attention, the same would have been assumed to be true about the Korean media's treatment of Dr. Hwang as well.
As I have said in my earlier post, whether or not he is guilty of violating guidelines, regulations, or laws, I hope the lesson is learned that Korea's limelight has become a harsh spotlight, and that means that playing by the rules is essential for any individual or group that wants to move ahead and stay there.
UPDATE:
AFP is carrying a story about Dr. Hwang's ethics problems entitled, "." Sphere: Related Content
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This is a tough one indeed. While I think that he was a bit dishonest to get the eggs the way he did, it technically wasn't against the law in Korea when he did it (my understanding is that Korea signed some international cloning ethics treaty after the fact -- is this correct?). It would be a shame if his scientific achievement is overshadowed by this issue. However the fact that he didn't fess-up to it right away shows that he thought it was wrong, or at least would be thought to be wrong by others from the very beginning.
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct about it not being legal at the time.
ReplyDeleteI think his lack of 'fessing up may be just as much an unwillingness to give anti-cloning critics ammunition as anything else. I think it's very telling that his critics are pointing to technicalities instead of seriously calling into question whether he had accomplished this or not.
Very true. The bottom line is he (and his team) accomplished something that until now was only done in Science Fiction. If people want to talk ethics, then go ahead and talk ethics, but just because one thinks something may have been unethical, it doesn't change that something happened, nor does it change how amazing that 'something' was.
ReplyDeleteBut... it's really hard to find a way to justify the lying -- either directly or indirectly for not telling the whole truth. I however would have liked to see his colleague step down without making such a big-deal about it in the news. Just tell Mr Hwang why he disagrees, that he's going to quit, and just leave it at that and walk away. (Perhaps that's actually what happened and the media just found out about it and made it a big deal on their own; I'm not really keeping up on the issue to well other then to think that 'gee, it sure would be nice if we didn't have laws that prioritize one religion over all logic and science in America.')