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The presidential advisor for science and technology Park Ky-young admitted Tuesday to a conflict of interest arising from W250 million (US$250,000) in research grants she received from the disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk. Hwang¡¯s motives have come under suspicion because although Park received the money when she was still a botanist at Sunchon National University in South Jeolla Province and before taking the Cheong Wa Dae post in 2004, she already had the president¡¯s ear at the time. She insists the funding was spent in a transparent manner.
"I accepted W150 million from Hwang, who was in charge of producing a BSE-resistant cow in December 2001, when I was working as a botany professor at Sunchon National University, to carry out research projects¡± on social implications and research ethics, she said.
She said Hwang gave her another W100 million in June 2003, asking her to study the ethical and industrial impact of bio-organs, as part of a project on producing bio-organs by using transgenic cloning technology and developing transplant technology. Park was appointed presidential aide the following year.
The official said everything was above-board and she published several papers and took part in conferences while producing the ethics guidelines for bio-organs. Academics say it makes no sense to ask a botanist to study the ethics of BSE and cloning research.
Park was part of President Roh¡¯s transition team in late 2002, when the funding was given, and exerted substantial influence on science and technology policy in the years before she became the science aide.
Park is also listed as a co-author of Hwang¡¯s now discredited 2004 paper on stem cells, causing suspicions that she was given a free ride since the Seoul National University panel investigating the scandal found she made ¡°no contribution¡± to the paper. Park tendered her resignation last Tuesday after the panel concluded that Hwang faked the article.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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