South Korea Kicks Out Human Cloning Sect Chief

PA News, Scotsman.com/August 2, 2003

South Korea today kicked out the leader of a religious sect that claimed it had produced the first cloned human, amid fears he may engage in human-cloning activities during his stay.

Claude Vorilhon, the founder of the Raelian movement, was turned away after arriving at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, for a 17-day visit, the justice ministry said.

In 1997 Vorilhon launched Clonaid, the first human cloning company, which claimed last year that it had cloned a baby girl. The claim has not been confirmed.

South Korea has no law banning human cloning, but has been stepping up efforts to enact its first law against the practice.

The Raelian movement, which believes life on Earth was created by clones of extraterrestrials, condemned the rejection of Vorilhon as discrimination against a religious minority.

South Korean news reports have said that three Korean women applied to Clonaid to have cloned human embryos implanted and one had been successfully impregnated. The reports have also yet to be confirmed.