Abstract

Within few weeks, the exposure of the Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-Suk as a forger has downsized the ‘pride of Korea’ into ‘the Hwang case’. Interpretations of this fraudulent forgery vary considerably. While themassmedia focus mainly on psychological aspects, more sophisticated sociological approaches discuss the case in the context of the increasing economic and medial aspects of science. We try to demonstrate that new insights into this situation may be gained by discussing the Hwang case also as a result of the modern process of “ethicizing” scientifical work. “Ethicizing” imposes pressure upon geneticists and molecular biologists to substantiate and legitimize their research activities with regard to the bioethical discourse. This pressure was — at least — partly responsible for Hwang’s attempt, by fabricating data, to affect the process of regulating stem cell research that was ongoing at that time. After all, it was foreseeable that the new regulation would lead to ethically substantiated restrictions for research. In order to demonstrate this specific link between value conflicts and research misconduct we have to shed light on the salience of bioethics and of ethically framed debates in South Korea over recent years. In contrast to a commonly held view, there was no lack of bioethical debates in this country; rather, the effectiveness of the ethical discourse is a relevant factor to comprehensively explain the ‘Hwang case’.