Koreans have been deeply shocked by the recent scandal in faked research in cloning human stem cells. It is a huge national loss of face and the Korean establishment faces hard questions about its role in allowing the fraud to go on for so long.
What does any government do in such a situation? Divert attention to how it is on the job protecting its citizens's interests in other areas. Selecting a "foreign devil" for the role of scapegoat is that much better.