South Korea's Bioethics and Biosafety Act (2005) (original) (raw)
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Ethical consideration is an inseparable part of policy-making in modern society. Biomedical ethics is an interdisciplinary study of ethical issues that result from advances in medical practices and research. Because these issues often arise at the bedside, society must provide solutions or judgments that are effective and applicable. Thus, the development and progress of biomedical ethics has been made possible via the cooperation of experts from diverse backgrounds. The biomedical ethics discourse should not be seen as a conflict between values but as a collective activity for problem-solving. To support this perspective on ethics discourse, a historical perspective on biomedical ethics in Korea was given emphasis on the participants and their perspectives. Major cases and the changes resulting therefrom were discussed with the agenda proposed. The Korean situation with respect to ethics development shows the interactions between groups participating in policy development and its c...
Science as Culture, 2014
To many commentators outside South Korea, the Hwang Woo Suk scandal involving human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research was just another spectacular case of misconduct in the life sciences. As such, it is generally assumed to have revealed the drawbacks of research in scientifically and ethically less-developed societies. Such thinking ignores the history, sophistication, and distinctive features of the public debate over hESC research in South Korea. Disputes over the social and ethical implications of hESC research had taken place for some time before the scandal erupted. Moreover, unlike in some other countries, where resistance to hESC research was prompted by religious conservatives, the most serious critique of the country's rapid move into the field came from progressive social movement activists—including feminists and environmentalists. These activists were, in fact, part of the non-governmental organization coalition to impose stricter social controls on biotechnology. This campaign was motivated by broader political and social concerns beyond specific biosafety or bioethical issues. The activists involved in the coalition feared that the capitalist–developmentalist drive toward biotechnology would threaten the public interest and democracy, and ultimately block South Korea's road to becoming a democratic nation founded on the values of social justice, equality, participation, and sustainability. In contesting South Korea's prevailing approaches to hESC research, they challenged, albeit unsuccessfully, the dominant ‘national sociotechnical imaginary’ that articulates the role of science and technology in relation to the future survival and well-being of the nation primarily in terms of its industrial competitiveness.
The Challenges of Governing Biotechnology in Korea
East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an International Journal, 2010
This paper explores the development of biotechnology governance and current challenges to its improvement in Korea. It aims to identify what element would be crucial to foster an effectively working system of biotechnology governance in Korea. The analysis is focused on two cases, the legislation of the Bioethics and Biosafety Act, and the development of ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) research. Our analysis finds that communication and consensus building between scientists and bioethics advocates in a broader sense is critical for improved governance. During the prolonged dispute over this legislation, the stakeholders advocating scientific advancements and those emphasizing the importance of ethics did not reach an agreement, which was reflected in the limitations of the act. The nascent ELSI research attempted to facilitate interdisciplinary communication and understanding between biotechnology scientists and those in humanities and social sciences, but was met with only limited success. Good governance of biotechnology requires scientists and other stakeholders to willingly comply with regulations and internalize certain norms. Based on our experience in ELSI research, a few suggestions are made to contribute to this end.
Economy and Society (경제와 사회), 2012
As rapid advances in the life sciences and technologies have raised a range of ethical issues, the social importance and influence of ‘bioethics’ are also increasingly being recognized. However, the issue of bioethics has not been given much attention by sociologists and other social scientists. More recently, the subfield of sociology of bioethics has emerged and begun to approach bioethics as an object of inquiry in itself, exploring it as an academic discipline, expertise, institutionalized practice, and discursive formation. The interdisciplinary field of Science & Technology Studies(STS) has also moved in that direction and produced a number of interesting case studies on bioethics. In particular, STS studies of ‘public bioethics’ ― that is, bioethics as defined and employed by deliberative bodies devoted to public ethical inquiry ― have provided interesting analyses of the political dynamics of scientific and bioethical expertise and of how the boundaries of science, ethics, and politics are (re)constructed at various public bioethics bodies. Relying on the insight from these studies, I will examine the Korean Bioethics Advisory Commission(2000.11～2001.8) ― the first public bioethics experiment in South Korea ― and its politics of expertise.
The Asia Pacific Bioethics Program of the Unesco Chair in Bioethics
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ln 2005 at the 33'd session of General Conference the UNESCO, adapted the universal declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. Declaration article 1.1 outlines the principals that respond to ethical issue related to medicine, life sciences and associated technologies as applied to human beings. Thus the international standards for Bioethics are grounded in a language of rights-to-safe guard human dignity and human rights.
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 2005
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