- Exposes the Hypocrisy of Harvard Medical School’s Validation Paper: A Pretext for ‘Securing Patents’

- 108 Pages Deleted from the SNU Investigation Report… Unveils the Reality of the ‘Special Notice’ Containing Clues to the Real Culprit of ‘Mix-and-Plant’ Fabrication

- Bio-Hegemony Lost to Japan Due to the ‘Hwang Woo-suk Trauma’… “We Must Open the Future with Patents Saved by the Collective Intelligence of the Public”

A shocking new book has been released, thoroughly uncovering the hidden side of the "Hwang Woo-suk Affair"—a subject that has been strictly treated as a sacred sanctuary and a taboo in the history of South Korean science for the past 20 years—backed by rigorous empirical data.

Producer Noh Kwang-joon, director of OBS Radio's Today's Climate and winner of the Korea Broadcasting Awards, has published Special Notice: 20 Years of Hwang Woo-suk, the Deleted Truth (Subtitle: Asking the Future of Bio-Sovereignty, published by Open World). The book is the culmination of 20 years of on-site investigative reporting, court and investigative records, global patent statuses, and the tracking of 75 international academic papers. This new release garnered significant attention even before its publication, successfully achieving 140% of its funding goal through the voluntary crowdfunding of 119 citizens.

The author, PD Noh Kwang-joon, directly challenges the mainstream society’s long-standing belief that "the scientific community’s verification and evaluation of the matter are already finished." The book sharply exposes the hypocrisy of the Harvard Medical School paper and the concealed records of the Seoul National University (SNU) Investigation Report, which no one had previously questioned.

The Hypocrisy of the Harvard Medical School Paper… It Was a ‘Patent War,’ Not a Scientific Verification

According to the book, the 2007 paper by the Harvard Medical School research team, which defined Dr. Hwang Woo-suk’s No. 1 stem cell line (NT-1) as "parthenogenesis, not cloning," was not a pure scientific validation but a calculated move to secure their own patents.

To hide the evidence that Dr. Hwang’s technology was somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning), the Harvard team intentionally distorted and diluted the heterozygosity data (evidence of somatic cell cloning) near the centromeres of chromosomes 5, 8, and 12. Subsequently, in September 2007, they filed an international patent by combining their own established method for creating mouse parthenogenetic stem cells with the NT-1 validation paper. The book presents the shocking conclusion that one of the world's most prestigious universities, responsible for clarifying scientific truth, actually manipulated data to absorb another person's original technology into its own national patent.

SNU Investigation Committee's Hidden 108 Pages… The Real Culprit of the ‘Mix-and-Plant’ Sabotage Was Someone Else

The author points out that the truth of the Hwang Woo-suk affair we know is a mere one-third of the whole story. It was exposed in court that the SNU Investigation Committee's final report, published in 2006, was originally 154 pages long, but two-thirds of it was heavily deleted by someone, leaving only 46 pages open to the public.

Recorded within these deleted 108 pages was the , which serves as the title of this book. It contained critical clues pointing to the real culprit who carried out the changes in DNA sample concentrations and the intentional "mix-and-plant" manipulation of stem cells within the MizMedi research team.

At the time, the research operated under a partnership structure where Dr. Hwang's cloning-specialized team provided the "seeds" (cloned blastocysts), and the MizMedi culturing team received them to grow and verify the stem cells. According to a Seoul Central District Court ruling in October 2009, Researcher S, the head of cultivation at MizMedi, was found guilty of "obstruction of business and destruction of evidence" for hindering the research of Hwang's team, falsely mixing and planting 12 stem cell lines, and destroying evidence. The individual concerned waived the right to appeal, making the conviction final.

Consequently, despite Dr. Hwang being legally cleared of fraud charges, he was completely buried and ostracized from the scientific community, bearing all the blame due to the confirmation bias of the media and the SNU Investigation Committee, the author explains.

20 Lost Years of Bio-Sovereignty, the Protagonists Were the ‘Collective Intelligence of the Public’

While South Korea spent a "lost 20 years" heavily tightening regulations on stem cell research due to the Hwang Woo-suk trauma, its competitor, Japan, seized hegemony in the global stem cell revolution. Backed by aggressive government support and regulatory reforms, Japan successfully advanced Professor Shinya Yamanaka’s iPS (induced pluripotent stem cell) research.

Nevertheless, Dr. Hwang's original technology did not perish. This was made possible by the "collective intelligence" of South Korean citizens who threw themselves onto Gwanghwamun Square, into courtrooms, and into subway stations to protect the original technology patent that the government, universities, and the media had all turned their backs on. Thanks to their persistent efforts, the original stem cell technology patents were ultimately registered in major countries around the world, including the United States and Canada. The author labels this achievement as "the world’s first citizen-driven bio-patent."

Hwang Woo-suk's Resurgence in the Middle East, Asking About South Korea's Future

Currently, Dr. Hwang Woo-suk is actively continuing his research in the Middle East, having been invited as the inaugural CEO and professor of the UAE Biotech Research Center, fully supported by the UAE's royal family, including Mansour. He is also concurrently conducting research on the restoration of Siberian mammoths and ancient organisms as a lifetime professor at North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Russia.

Reflecting on the publication, PD Noh Kwang-joon stated, "We must painfully look back on the past 20 years when we completely shut the lid on the entire jar just because we were afraid of maggots, without relying on accurate facts." He added, "Even if it is late, we must redesign the future of South Korea's bio-sovereignty based on public interest and cooperation, rather than monopoly and competition."

Meanwhile, coinciding with the release of the new book, a National Assembly Town Hall Meeting titled "Advanced Science and Collective Intelligence: Focusing on the Hwang Woo-suk Affair" is scheduled to be held on Friday, June 12, 2026, at the 1st Small Conference Room of the Members' Office Building of the National Assembly, to discuss the public nature of advanced science and the role of collective intelligence.

[Major Bibliographic Information]
Title: Special Notice: 20 Years of Hwang Woo-suk, the 'Deleted' Truth (Subtitle: Asking the Future of Bio-Sovereignty)
Author: Noh Kwang-joon
Publisher: Open World (Yeolin Sesang)
Publication Date: June 12, 2026

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