Key facts
- Hwang Woo-suk acquired UAE nationality on April 9, 2026, according to a justice ministry immigration office notice.
- The notice was published in an electronic gazette in Cheongju on August 13, 2026.
- Under South Korean law, citizens who voluntarily acquire a foreign nationality automatically lose their citizenship.
- Hwang was found in 2005 to have used forged data for a research paper claiming the first cloned human embryo.
- Hwang serves as chief executive officer of UAE BIOTECH Research Center, according to its website.
Hwang Woo-suk, the scientist at the center of a stem cell fraud scandal, appears to have lost his South Korean citizenship after acquiring United Arab Emirates nationality, officials said on November 9, 2026, according to Yonhap.
Hwang's name appeared on a list of individuals who lost their citizenship in an electronic gazette published by the justice ministry's immigration office in Cheongju on August 13. The notice said Hwang, who has recently been working in the UAE, lost his citizenship after obtaining his new nationality on April 9. The listed details match the 73-year-old's birth year and hometown. Under South Korean law, citizens who voluntarily acquire a foreign nationality automatically lose their citizenship. A justice ministry official declined to offer details other than the information on the gazette.
The former Seoul National University professor remains a controversial figure in South Korea after he was found in 2005 to have used forged data for a research paper to claim that he had created the world's first cloned human embryo. He was dismissed from Seoul National University in 2006 following the scandal. He disputed the dismissal at court but ultimately lost in 2015. The government stripped him of the country's highest science and technology award earlier this year, more than two decades after it was presented in 2004. Prior to the scandal, Hwang had been celebrated as a national hero for his work in animal cloning and stem cell research.
Hwang currently serves as the chief executive officer of UAE BIOTECH Research Center, which focuses on animal cloning, genetic engineering and stem cell research, according to its website.