Korean Religious Opposition to and Support for Human Cloning
South Korea is at the forefront of cloning. Ethical questions have been largely ignored by a public eager to be first in the world in something. But not all are happy; these excerpts from an article entitled Ethical ire voiced by Christians on cloning show where Korea's Catholics, Protestants, and Buddhists stand on the issue:

Although celebrated by the government and the general public for his breakthrough achievements in the use of human stem cells, the Seoul National University veterinarian Hwang Woo-suk has become a high-profile target for religious groups who oppose his research, which involves the use of human embryos.

He has become a popular academic celebrity in the past year, during which he announced the first cloning of designer human embryonic stem cells and the cloning of a dog ― both global firsts. But while the government has increased its funding support for his research, religious groups have been more insistently opposing his stem cell work.

Among those groups, the Roman Catholic Church in Korea has been in the forefront of the attacks. Most recently, Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan, the archbishop-emeritus of Seoul, launched an attack on that work in an interview with a Christian publication. That was only a few days after the Catholic archdiocese here announced on Oct. 5 that it intended to raise 10 billion won ($9.6 million) to foster research on adult stem cells. The church, along with many conservative Protestant denominations, considers conception the beginning of human life and therefore opposes the use of embryos to obtain stem cells. Adult stem cells is a specialized term, referring not only to cells that can be extracted from bone marrow but those obtained from blood remaining in a newborn child's umbilical cord. The archbishop of Seoul, Cheong Jin-suk, met with Dr. Hwang in June to try to persuade him to end his research using embryos; although the meeting was called friendly, Dr. Hwang said his research would continue because it was an attempt to cure otherwise incurable afflictions....

Protestant groups, which had been relatively quiet about the issue, have also begun to speak up. The Christian Council of Korea announced on Oct. 13 that it intended to give its full support to research on adult stem cells, urging that studies on embryonic stem cells be ended immediately.

The council cited the same moral and ethical concerns as the Roman Catholic leadership. Choi Sung-gyu, the chairman of the Christian Council of Korea, praised Professor Hwang for his achievements but added, "Killing life to make treatments isn't holy." He said the group's support for adult stem cell study would include financial support, but that the amounts to be contributed to that research had not been decided....

The National Council of Churches in Korea, a more liberal Christian group, has not opposed the study of embryonic stem cells, but has not said unambiguously that it supports it. On July 14, the group issued a statement saying it believed Mr. Hwang's claims that his research was for the purpose of treating incurable diseases, but it warned that if it saw any other "impure intentions," it will ask for the research to be stopped.

Not everyone, however, frowns on Mr. Hwang. Among Buddhist groups, the Jogye order of Korean Buddhism expressed its support for Dr. Hwang under the guidance of the Venerable Bubjang, who died in September. This support led the Buddhist leader and many other monks to donate their body organs for medical purposes, despite the Buddhist custom of cremation. The support, however, was for Mr. Hwang's research in general and not directed at his work with embryonic stem cells; since the Venerable Bubjang's death, Buddhist groups have made no official comment on the question of stem cells.