On May 18, 2001, the Korean Bioethics Advisory Commission (KBAC),
sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, published a set of
recommendations for biotechnological research and application,
including scientific experiments with human embryos. Four days later,
the KBAC held a public hearing to finalize its recommendations. Since
then, public reaction and debate over the ethical aspects of human
embryo research have actively surfaced. Most leaders of religious
organizations, especially Catholic churches, objected to any type of
embryo research. On the other hand, some leaders of the scientific
community supported freer scientific research on human embryos.