Judith Miller Was Not Involved, However

Korea Times opens up the last fissure in the damn on the Korean stem cell scandal involving Hwang Woo-suk and others. The first evidence appeared today that the President of Korea's chief advisor for all of this stuff was very likely aware of at least part of the mess. It gets messier too as Chosun reports:

Roh Sung-il, the head of MizMedi Hospital, said Schatten knew that nine out of the 11 stem cells died after being contaminated in the lab in January. It was March when the article co-authored by Schatten was submitted to the journal. Since it takes at least three months to cultivate stem cells, a scientist should have raised questions upon hearing that nine stem cells were cultivated in only two months, he said.

There are also accusations that Cheong Wa Dae was told of the accident at the time. If it was, the presidential office will be under intense pressure to say how much it knew and why it kept silent.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are reportedly reviewing statements made by Hwang, Roh and Kim in their press conferences. But they say they will not take action until the scientific inquiry is complete.

[thanks Laurie Zoloth]