Former Professor Hwang Woo-seok loses Korean citizenship after acquiring UAE nationality (comprehensive)

It was belatedly confirmed that former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-seok, who was controversial over the stem cell paper falsification case, lost his Korean nationality by acquiring United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationality.

On the 9th, the Cheongju Immigration Office of the Ministry of Justice announced on August 13 that Hwang Woo-seok, born in 1953, acquired UAE nationality on April 9 of this year and lost his Korean nationality.

Article 15 of the Nationality Act stipulates that ‘a person who voluntarily acquires foreign nationality as a citizen of the Republic of Korea shall lose the nationality of the Republic of Korea at the time he or she acquires the foreign nationality.’

Considering that former Professor Hwang has recently been active in the UAE, that their dates of birth are identical, and that the registration base included in the notice is Buyeo-gun, South Chungcheong Province, which is Professor Hwang's hometown, they appear to be the same person.

However, an official from the Ministry of Justice explained, “We cannot disclose information other than the facts stated in the notice.”

Professor Hwang showed outstanding achievements in animal cloning research, and received great attention in 2005 when he published a research paper showing that he had succeeded in extracting and cultivating human embryonic stem cells for the first time in the world.

However, it was later revealed that former Professor Hwang's thesis had been fabricated, causing a stir, and the resulting legal dispute continued for a long time.

Former Professor Hwang filed a lawsuit against his dismissal from Seoul National University in 2006, but after nine years of legal battle, he finally lost in 2015 and his dismissal was confirmed.

In addition, he was indicted on charges of hiding the fact that he had fabricated a thesis and received subsidies or embezzled research funds (embezzlement under the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes Act) and was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with 2 years of probation in 2014.

In addition, another legal battle broke out in 2020 when the government belatedly decided to cancel the 'Korea's Best Science and Technology Award' award.

In the lawsuit filed by former Professor Hwang, the court ruled to cancel the decision, saying that the award cancellation procedure was illegal because both the first and second trials did not provide the parties with an opportunity to submit their opinions. This ruling was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2023.

Accordingly, the government went through the process again and canceled the awards ceremony in July of this year.

This is 22 years after Professor Hwang received the award in 2004.

Former Professor Hwang has received several joint business proposals from the UAE and currently serves as the CEO of the UAE Biotech Research Institute.

“Our mission is to solve challenges related to animal health, biodiversity, and sustainability through the power of biotechnology,” said Professor Hwang in a greeting posted on the UAE Biotech Institute website. “With the leadership of the UAE, we are setting a new standard for innovation and cooperation.”