A presidential panel decided Friday to allow limited embryonic stem cell research, paving the way for local scientists to resume studies in the field.

Stem cell research has been suspended since last year after cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk was found to have fabricated data in his landmark studies.

In its first meeting of the year, the 20-member National Bioethics Committee said it made the decision, with 12 members voting to allow limited work in the ethically-sensitive area.

Seven civilian committee members, however, abstained from the written vote to show their strong opposition.

The committee had originally planned to reach a decision on the issue in late November, but it was delayed as committee members were divided over whether to permit resumption of the research.

Hwang, a former veterinary professor at Seoul National University, shocked the world in May 2005 when he published a paper in Science claiming that he had succeeded in producing eleven patient-specific stem cell lines.

However, the university's investigative panel found no evidence to back Hwang's claims, concluding that he and his co-researchers had fabricated data in the landmark Science paper.