Disgraced South Korean Stem Cell Scientist Hwang Woo-suk Reported to Have Taken UAE Citizenship, Losing Korean Nationality
Seoul, South Korea — Hwang Woo-suk, the former Seoul National University professor disgraced in the stem cell fabrication scandal, acquired citizenship of the United Arab Emirates on April 9 this year and thereby lost his South Korean nationality, Yonhap News Agency reported on November 9, citing a nationality-loss notice published on August 13 in the electronic gazette by the Cheongju immigration office under the Justice Ministry. A ministry official said no details beyond the notice could be provided.
The man named in the notice was born in 1953 with a registered hometown of Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, matching Hwang's birth year and hometown, and Hwang has been based in the UAE in recent years. Under Article 15 of South Korea's Nationality Act, citizens who voluntarily acquire a foreign nationality automatically lose their Korean nationality. Hwang now heads the UAE Biotech Research Center in Abu Dhabi, working on animal cloning; South Korean media report he was recruited with the support of UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour. Later reports said Hwang has applied to restore his Korean citizenship and is awaiting a decision by the justice minister.
Hwang was hailed as a national hero in 2004-05 for claims of cloning human embryonic stem cells that were later exposed as fabricated; he was dismissed from Seoul National University and convicted. He later resumed research abroad, working in the UAE with government support since 2019. The UAE opened a narrow naturalisation path for scientists, doctors and investors in 2021.
(Source: Yonhap News Agency)
Source: Yonhap News Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：首尔大学冠岳校区。照片：H. Y. Shin 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Seoul National University's Gwanak campus. Photo by H. Y. Shin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
