SEOUL, February 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In December, 1998, The Korean newspaper, Chosun-Ilbo, reported that researchers Kim Seung-bo and Lee Bo-yeon had successfully replaced the nucleus of a human oocyte (egg) with the nucleus from a somatic cell and cultivated it until it had divided twice before destroying it. International news media almost completely ignored the event which was announced at a press conference but never appeared in a peer review journal.
South Korean civic and religious groups, however, mobilized and the government introduced legislation to regulate the activity. In response to opposition, the researchers protested that what they had done was acceptable. Kim and Lee said, “It is inconsistent with ethical regulations to transfer a cloned embryo into a human uterus,” and they asserted that they had no intentions of actually cloning a human being. Surprisingly, one of the most outspoken groups protesting the most recent experiments has been the South Korean environmentalist group, Green Korea. Seo Jae Chul, an official at Green Korea, drew comparisons between human cloning and the Nazi atrocities. In explaining why there had been lackluster coverage of the issue, “The Western world, especially Europe, experienced the atrocities of the Nazis,” he said. “Here, there is no such experience.” Science News, Jan 16, 1999 coverage: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1200/3_155/53705990/p1/article.jhtml New York Times coverage: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/13/science/13KORE.html?ex=1077598800&en=eb98670bf4aac31c&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER