Netflix has released the first trailer for the controversial King of Clones, which will be released on June 23, 2023. Hwang Woo-suk, a South Korean scientist, is the subject of the documentary film, which is based on his life and career. With a total run duration of 1 hour and 25 minutes, King of Clones will illustrate the increasing prominence and startling failure of Hwang’s human cloning project.
This documentary is director Aditya Thayi’s effort to put forward the importance of ethics in the complicated world of scientific study. He is known for his films Deciphering Indonesia with Cheryl Marella and Deciphering India with Anjan Sundaram. The official Netflix summary for King of Clones is as follows:
“From groundbreaking human cloning research to a scandalous downfall, this documentary tells the captivating story of Korea’s most notorious scientist.”
Given the sensitive nature of the subject in the scientific world and in South Korea, Netflix provides an impartial perspective on Hwang Woo-suk and his contributions to science.
Hwang Woo-suk, King of Clones, has had his first engagement with the rest of the world since the discoveries.
Hwang Woo-suk, who was born in South Korea, first studied veterinary medicine. He started his work exploring animal cloning and had tremendous success, including cow and pig cloning. In 2004, Hwang’s research team claimed to have successfully cloned the first human embryo and retrieved embryonic stem cells from nine individuals. When charges of research malpractice and ethical infractions appeared in 2005, the scientific community was disturbed. The charges against Hwang centered on research data manipulation and forgery. A deeper examination showed, however, that the study had been faked and the patient-specific stem cells were obtained from eggs provided by researchers collaborating with him – a clear breach of scientific ethics.
Hwang was fired from his post at Seoul National University, and the government prevented him from doing research and chastised him financially. His reputation had been seriously harmed. He was also found guilty of embezzling research funding and obtaining human eggs on the underground market. Hwang has kept a quiet profile in the aftermath of the court dispute.
According to an exclusive interview with Variety, Thayi took nine months to reach out to Hwang for King of Clones. He is now working from Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour. Hwang claims he declines over 50 interview invitations each month from American and Korean media. Thayi states: “There’s a reason he said ‘yes’ to me, and I think it’s because he felt like he could trust me to tell his version of the story – and definitely not being Korean helped me in my access,” she says. Aditya Thayi co-founded Peddling Pictures with Kavitha de Silva Wijeyeratne, the former Endemol Shine head of line production.
A Look at the Teaser for King of Clones
The official trailer for King of Clones has yet to be released by Netflix. However, a preview of the documentary is accessible on the internet under the ‘Remind Me’ area. The teaser mentions the famed scientist who said:
“Bad behavior is never excused by good intentions.” Take a look at what happened to Dr. Hwang. The fact that he was attempting to help everyone does not justify such egregious misbehavior.”
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The narration continues,
“He’s at the top of the world. He’s done what no other human being has done before, and then he suffers the full fall and collapse. In some ways, it’s a timeless narrative.”
Watch Hwang Woo-suk’s career serve as a cautionary tale about the consequences of scientific malfeasance in King of Clones, which premieres exclusively on Netflix on June 23, 2023.
