The cancellation of former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk's Republic of Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award (presidential award), which stirred repercussions due to fabrication in stem cell papers, was finalized 22 years after he received it.
According to related ministries on the 15th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety the previous day requested presidential approval through the national administration system regarding the cancellation of the Top Scientist and Technologist Award for the former professor Hwang, and the approval was granted the same day, making the cancellation final 22 years after the award. This followed a request in March by the Ministry of Science and ICT to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to cancel the former professor Hwang's Republic of Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award.
The government also canceled the former professor Hwang's award in 2020, but after a court found the disposition invalid due to procedural defects, the process was restarted.
The Republic of Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award is the nation's highest honor bestowed on scientists and technologists who have made significant contributions to the advancement of science and technology in Korea. The winner receives a presidential award and 300 million won in prize money. The former professor Hwang claimed success in cloning somatic cells using human ova and deriving embryonic stem cells from them, and published successive papers in 2004 and 2005 in the international journal "Science." At the time, the global scientific community could not hide its astonishment at the former professor Hwang's achievements. The former professor Hwang received the Top Scientist and Technologist Award and 300 million won in 2004 in recognition of his human embryonic stem cell research results.
However, starting with questions raised at the end of 2005 by MBC's PD Notebook, controversy over the research methods and paper writing never ceased. In the end, as the Seoul National University investigation committee concluded there was paper fabrication, the former professor Hwang was dismissed from his professorship in April 2006. The Ministry of Science and ICT also canceled the Order of Science and Technology Merit, the Changjo Medal, the same year. However, at the time, due to deficiencies in relevant regulations, the Republic of Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award was not canceled until 2020. The former professor Hwang then filed an administrative suit, arguing the government's cancellation of the award was unlawful.
In the first and second trials, the courts determined there were procedural defects, such as the government not sufficiently guaranteeing the former professor Hwang an opportunity to submit opinions before the disposition, and ruled the disposition should be canceled. The Supreme Court affirmed this judgment in Apr. 2023.