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BY LifeSiteNews.com By Hilary WhiteSEOUL, Korea, October 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Hwang Woo Suk, the disgraced South Korean cloning doctor who in 2006 was exposed as having falsified his results, was convicted Monday on charges of embezzlement and bioethics law violations. Hwang was given a two-year suspended sentence. The Seoul court ruled, "Hwang embezzled a considerable amount of money by using borrowed names and false tax accounts. Also, his practice of purchasing egg cells from women violated the Bioethics and Safety Act even if he did so for scientific research."The verdict noted, "He feels deeply sorry that this case elicited so much criticism in the scientific field and shocked the public. ... His wrongdoing is not minor but does not merit the severe punishment of a prison sentence." Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison term for the embezzlement of 835 million won (about US $700,000). Hwang was cleared by the court of charges of fraud, however. "Though Hwang partially participated in the fabrication of research papers, he did not intentionally deceive donors, including corporations, to embezzle money," the court said.  Dr. Hwang was regarded as a national hero in South Korea for what were thought to be his advances in human cloning research. He was a professor of theriogenology and biotechnology at Seoul National University but was dismissed on March 20, 2006 for ethical violations. Hwang had been making claims of cloning animals since 1999, when he announced he had cloned a cow, but failed to produce verifiable or reproducible data, a basic requirement in advanced research. Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2004. In 2005, he claimed to be the first cloning scientist to have created cloned human embryos meant to be used to provide embryonic stem cells. His paper was published in the March issue of the peer review journal Science.Hwang's bubble of fame burst, however, when an American collaborator on his research team requested that Science remove his name from the list of contributors, saying that some of the findings had been fabricated. Next a member of the Korean research team revealed on television that the evidence appearing in Science had been fabricated.After his dismissal from Seoul National University and fall from grace, and despite ongoing legal prosecution, Hwang has returned to research in animal cloning and has published several papers in minor journals. In 2007, Hwang's research team cloned the pet dog of Orion Group Chairman John Sperling and a specimen of the rare Chinese breed Tibetan Mastiffs. He has been involved in cloning cows and pigs for medical research. Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:Disgraced Korean Cloning Doctor may face Charges of Fraud and Embezzlement http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06010303.html http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/disgraced-korean-cloning-doctor-convicted-on-embezzlement-charges/

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