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The whistleblower who exposed breakthrough cloning research as a devastating fake says South Korea is still dominated by the values that allowed science fraudster Hwang Woo-suk to become an almost untouchable national hero.
In an interview with The Associated Press after almost a decade of silence, Ryu Young-joon, one of Hwang's former researchers, said the cost of telling the truth still weighs on him but he doesn't regret his decision to out Hwang as a false prophet.
The revelations in 2005 rocked South Korea which had celebrated Hwang's research as a historic achievement, focused unfavorable attention on the country and diminished the reputation of its scientific establishment. The memory of the scandal is still painful today and Hwang, though convicted of embezzlement and violating bioethical laws, discredited and relegated to the scientific backwater of pet cloning, retains a loyal following among sections of the public and media.
In the nearly 10 years since Hwang's accomplishments were found to be built on lies, Ryu feels little has changed in a society where cozy ties between government, business, the media and...