Interesting. And as the article was published in January 2014, and news of Dr. Hwang's US patent was released in February, it could very well be that such issues are raised in the movie. Or will that be too risky? Anyhow, please update us on your readings :-)

Hwang can do or say what ever he wants. The fact remains that it was proven he fake data and evidence for his alleged cloning. As a result his two papers were retracted. In scientific terms, that means his claims have been proven false. End of story.

It is true Nature published a story about him attempting to make a comeback. It also published an accompanying commentary that makes clear this story should be seen as a rehabilitation of him or his research To quote from it,

"As readers will see, the article is not a show of support for Hwang’s research. Nor is it an attack. It is the story of a rare event: a scientist attempting with some success to dig himself out from the depths of ignominy. It is a journalistic exercise, not a scientific endorsement. And it was commissioned to mark the ten-year anniversary of the first paper — now retracted — in which Hwang claimed to have created cloned human embryonic stem-cell lines.

The article highlights notes of caution for those who would rush to rehabilitate this disgraced researcher. Most worryingly, Hwang is pushing — with some success — to get recognition that his cells are indeed the world’s first cloned human stem-cell line. That is not supported either by independent scientific evidence produced since he published his now-retracted paper, or by evidence from his own laboratory, which fabricated data after tests showed that the cell line was not cloned. Hwang has taken the unscientific path of getting patent offices and court rooms, rather than his expert peers, to judge his scientific claims."

In fact, Nature makes effort to stress that Hwang was, in fact, never an important scientist:

"Hwang’s position panders to the views of many of his diehard supporters, who treat the matter as if a great scientist’s great discovery had been somehow unfairly taken away; as if Hwang lost his reputation on a technicality. Indeed, the whistle-blower who endured persecution to set the record straight about Hwang’s research has been portrayed online as a traitor who embarrassed the country, hampered a distinguished scientist and set back the progress of South Korea’s biotechnology.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The evidence suggests that Hwang was not a great scientist. His claims to have done cloning work on cows in the late 1990s were backed up with photographs and promoted through political connections rather than scientific publications. What was the contribution to scientific knowledge of his human-cloning work? In May 2013, cell biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov published results showing that he had finally achieved the human-cloning breakthrough that Hwang had claimed in 2004. Mitalipov told Nature: 'I don’t have much to say about Hwang; his studies in human somatic-cell nuclear transfer were not informative and did not affect me at all.' Eggs were given in vain to Hwang’s lab by around 120 donors. The potential of Hwang’s claimed work was over-hyped even before the work was...

He is perfect <3