South Korea's Supreme Court upholds Hwang Woo-suk's suspended sentence

On 27 February 2014, South Korea's Supreme Court upheld an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, against stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk. The ruling ended a legal fight that had lasted several years.

Hwang had been celebrated as a national hero after papers published in 2004 and 2005 claimed he had cloned human embryonic stem cells. Investigations later showed the key results were fabricated, and he lost his post at Seoul National University. Prosecutors then charged him with embezzling research funds and violating the country's bioethics law, including over the way human eggs were obtained for his experiments.

Lower courts found him guilty on those counts, though not on fraud over the research claims themselves. The appeals court reduced the original sentence, and the Supreme Court confirmed that decision. Because the sentence was suspended, Hwang did not go to prison.

The verdict closed the criminal case against him and became a reference point in debates on research ethics in South Korea. It also left Hwang free to keep working on animal cloning and other research, which he continued afterwards.