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| Ryu Young-joon, a pathologist and professor at Kangwon National University College of Medicine, stands in front of a microscope during a Korea Times interview on Monday in the university's hospital in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Pathologist gears up for another fight against disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-seok, two decades after fabricated stem cell research scandal
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Chuncheon, Gangwon Province―There is not a single telephone inside the office of Ryu Young-joon, a pathologist and professor at Kangwon National University Hospital located in the eastern city of Chuncheon.
Ryu said he had asked the hospital staff to remove the phone from his office, because he was tired of receiving incessant calls from his opponents.
He was stalked and harassed for years by a group known as "Hwang-ppa" or Hwang's fanatical followers in English. They are loyal adherents of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk. Their verbal attacks against Ryu resumed in 2014 after the movie, "The Whistleblower," which revolves around Hwang's downfall, hit local theaters.
Ryu is the one who blew the whistle on the unethical scientist.
"They called me and yelled at me, using swear words and various threats and coercions," Ryu said during a Korea Times interview at his office on Monday. "They had stalked and harassed me for many years since they knew I was the one who revealed Hwang's scandalous fabrication of stem cell research accomplishments."
It was not long ago when Ryu's life finally returned to normal.
The soft-spoken doctor said he is now able to focus completely on his job as a pathologist without being disturbed by unwanted phone calls and verbal attacks from Hwang's supporters.
"I am quite satisfied with my current life. Peaceful, no interruption from people outside… My job security is guaranteed as well," he said.
At the hospital, Ryu diagnoses patients after examining the results of tests detecting cancer cells. He also conducts genetic tests for cancer treatments and forensic autopsies to detect the causes of death.
"Unlike other doctors whose clients are patients, mine are doctors," he said, beaming as if he is proud of his job.
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| Poster of Netflix documentary "King of Clones" |
As a whistleblower, Ryu appeared in the documentary. He said he saw the film as soon as it was released on Netflix.
"I found several factual errors there," he said. "In the documentary, Hwang claimed he accepted my call to become the godfather of my daughter, which is baseless. In the Catholic Church, I understand that girls will get godmothers when they are baptized, while boys get godfathers. My daughter was not baptized."
Ryu said there is another factual error in Hwang's testimony in the movie.
"He visited me in March 2005, shortly after my daughter was born. In the documentary, Hwang claimed that I was already in touch with MBC journalists during that time, which is not true," he said.
He stressed that he first contacted the broadcast journalists in June 2005, three months after his daughter was born.
Ryu accused Hwang of trying to portray him as an unreliable person who tried to curry favors, without revealing his real intention to destroy the scientist's career.
This reporter tried to contact Hwang for comments, but no information was available about his whereabouts, although he is known to be living in the United Arab Emirates.
Ryu said he would right the wrong.
Ryu said he is working with a lawyer to take legal action against Hwang for defamation and spreading misinformation.
If he does not do anything about the alleged factual errors, Ryu said, what Hwang said about him will be accepted as the truth.
"I no longer have hard feelings, anger, whatsoever toward him," he said.
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| Disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, right, an ex-professor of Seoul National University, leaves the Seoul Central District Court after being found guilty of embezzlement in this 2009 file photo. Korea Times file |
Ryu's battle against his ex-mentor and advisor is not over, although the case was closed with the Supreme Court's 2014 ruling which upheld the lower court's ruling that Hwang is guilty of falsifying his papers and embezzlement while being cleared of the scientific fraud charge, eight years after the scientist was indicted.
On top of the fresh legal action, Ryu is set to disclose in great detail what had happened before, during and after the Hwang scandal in a book to be published later this year.
The name of the co-authored book has yet to be decided. But Ryu already completed a draft tentatively titled "Between Truth and Profit: Scientific Misconduct Case of Human Cloned Embryonic Stem Cell and Revisiting Cases During COVID-19 Pandemic."
"Currently, they are proofreading my draft," he said, referring to the staff of Springer Nature, a German-British academic publishing company.
It's his first-person account of the stem cell research scandal that shocked the world. He said he detailed how it started, evolved and eventually took the scientist down by revisiting every detail of the sequence of events that preceded the eruption of the scandal.
Ryu's ties with Hwang began as a graduate student and advisor when he joined the scientist's research team at Seoul National University College of Veterinary Medicine. Hwang was then a renowned professor who was portrayed in the media as a pioneer of cloning.
Back then, Ryu said he was an aspiring stem cell researcher, although he studied medicine in university.
Spinal cord injury treatment was of his area of interest, which motivated him to study under Hwang's supervision.
"Stem cell research consists of several different fields and cloning is one of them. Hwang assigned me to a team handling cloning which is his area of specialization, asking me to lead the team, an offer I accepted," he said. "I was a pragmatist and didn't care whether it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it can catch rats."
It did not take long for Ryu to become suspicious of his advisor.
"He said he cloned a cow, but there was no supporting research paper. I thought that was weird," he said.
There were several other cases that made him grow more suspicious about his adviser.
"Everybody in his research team knew that there was something wrong with his research, but none of them dared to confront him," Ryu said.
He said he was fully aware of the price he would have to pay in case he became a whistleblower, so he tried to keep forcing himself to believe that it was none of his business and that he did not need to rock the boat.
His patience, however, was tested further when he realized that Hwang was trying to deceive the public with his false claim that his team successfully cloned human embryonic stem cells and the technology could be used to treat patients suffering from several untreatable diseases.
"He crossed the line," Ryu said. "There were people fighting for their lives and they were excited about the news. They pinned high hopes on the medical use of cloned human embryonic stem cells to treat their diseases."
He contacted a producer of MBC's investigative program, informing him that Hwang's stem cell research accomplishments had been fabricated.
The broadcasting company aired the story in November 2005, causing a stir.
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| Hwang Woo-suk's supporters protest against prosecutors in front of the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office in this 2006 file photo. Korea Times file |
The nation was in shock.
At that time, Hwang's reputation as a scientist was so solid that it appeared to be unbreakable. He became a hero after he claimed his team successfully cloned human embryonic stem cells in research papers published in Nature in 2004 and 2005. '
The entire nation was excited as the team's accomplishments were expected to open a new era of stem cell-based treatments of untreatable diseases.
His stalwart reputation made Ryu and the MBC journalists feel immense pressure when they teamed up to reveal Hwang's unethical research and scientific misconduct. People did not believe MBC's report.
Ryu and the MBC journalists were labeled as "traitors" as their claim denied Hwang's accomplishments. Some of Hwang's supporters took collective action against them. The nation was poles apart, while an overwhelming number of people were in disbelief about the media coverage.
The price Ryu paid was far harsher than expected.
When he revealed Hwang's scientific misconduct, Ryu was a neurosurgery resident at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital in Seoul. He joined the Seoul National University College of Medicine as a resident after completing his master's degree and doctoral program coursework in veterinary medicine.
After the scandal, he took a leave of absence from the hospital. He was forced to quit as the hospital authorities disapproved when he submitted his plan to return.
His colleagues and professors gave him the cold shoulder.
He was portrayed as a social outcast who brought his former adviser to justice, which was then viewed by conservative professors as an unacceptable act.
He had been jobless for two years.
At that time, he was married and had a baby girl. As the breadwinner, he said he felt the pinch.
He switched his major from neurosurgery to pathology and went on to Korea University College of Medicine as a pathology resident. Hard times continued there for four years, but he eventually won over their hearts with his ceaseless efforts to prove himself as a hard-working resident.
"The other day, I asked the former MBC producer, who covered the Hwang scandal, whether he thinks he could do it again if the same thing happened now," said Ryu. "He didn't give a clear-cut answer. The pressure that we endured two decades ago was so immense that none of us are sure whether we could do that again."
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| Professor Ryu Young-joon examines cancer cell detection results through a microscope on Monday in his office at Kangwon National University Hospital, Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
