Disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk no longer has his government's permission to conduct research on human embryos, South Korea's Health Ministry announced Thursday.

The licence was revoked on the grounds he failed to meet a condition for publishing a paper in an important scientific journal within three years.

The U.S. journal Science retracted two papers by this team after investigators at Seoul National University concluded the research was based on fake data.

In the articles, Hwang's team reported they had cloned custom-made embryonic stem cells from 11 patients, raising hopes for tailored therapies for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's.

"With the withdrawal of the paper by Science, a legal deficiency arose, and the revocation of the research licence was inevitable," the ministry said in a statement.

Hwang has apologized for the faked results. He maintains he has the technology needed for the claims.

Without a licence, Hwang won't be able to obtain human eggs for research, the ministry said.