A Seoul-based daily says cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk rejected U.S. scientist Gerald Schatten's request for 50 percent of patent rights on stem cell research.

Quoting a government official in Seoul and sources close to Hwang's research Tuesday, the JoongAng Ilbo said Schatten made the request in June and September and discussed it with South Korean scientists in San Francisco last month.

Hwang, however, rejected the request, saying the research rights were South Korea's national asset and could not divided.

Members of Schatten's team have declined comment on the issue.

Schatten, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said he deserved half of the patent rights as one of the 25 co-authors of Hwang's thesis on stem cell research published in Science magazine in May.

The daily also said Schatten wanted the chairmanship of the board of the World Stem Cell Foundation, an organization separate from the World Stem Cell Hub which canceled its launch last month.

He also prodded the foundation to name a large number of U.S. scientists to the board.

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