Ihn Yo-han: American-Korean doctor in love with Korea
Dr. John Alderman Linton, also known as Ihn Yo-han, was in the spotlight on SBS variety show “Master in the House.” Capture from SBS
By Dong Sun-hwa
John Alderman Linton, an American-Korean doctor with four generations of close connections to Korea, has been in the spotlight after appearing on SBS variety show “Master in the House” Sunday.
Linton, whose Korean name is Ihn Yo-han, contributed to the development of the ambulance customized for Korea in 1992. He became the first special naturalized Korean citizen in 2012 thanks to his contributions to the country, and is currently a doctor at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital in Seoul.
The program's four cast members ― singer-actor Lee Seung-gi, actor Lee Sang-yoon, comedian Yang Se-hyung and Yook Sung-jae from K-pop boy band BTOB ― visited the 60-year-old doctor for its latest episode. This time, Ihn was the “master” who recounted his life story.
Introducing himself as the first Westerner to pass the Korean Medical Licensing Examination, Ihn explained why he had decided to develop the “Korean-type ambulance.”
He said his decision came in the wake of his father's death in 1984. His father, Hugh Linton, died on the way to hospital after a car accident. According to Ihn, the lack of suitable ambulances led his father to die in a taxi. Ambulances in the past were also unable to provide proper emergency rescue services.
“I wanted to prevent a recurrence of such a tragic incident,” Ihn said. “So I came to develop the ambulance on my own after raising funds from my father's friends. Now, an ambulance can pass through narrow lanes and mountain paths.”
His ambulance was remodeled to suit Korean geography. It is known to be the basis of the fire ambulance used today.
The Linton family's special relationship with Korea spans more than 120 years. Ihn's maternal great-grandfather, Eugene Bell (1868-1925), came to Korea in 1895 and worked as a missionary in Jeolla Province.
Ihn's grandfather, William Linton, spread the March First Independence Movement in 1919 to the U.S. The movement, organized by the symbolic patriot Ryu Gwan-sun, was to push for Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
Ihn's father took part in the Korean War that broke out on June 25, 1950. Ihn worked as an interpreter when the Gwangju Democratization Movement, a pro-democracy uprising, occurred in 1980.
Ihn, who speaks Korean in the dialect of the Jeolla, is the progenitor of the Ihn family in Suncheon, a southern coastal city in South Jeolla.
He also established the Eugene Bell Foundation in the U.S. in 1995 with his brother Stephen Linton and other descendants of Bell. The foundation aims to give humanitarian aid to North Korea.
Ihn is a teacher of prominent trauma doctor Lee Guk-jong from Ajou University Hospital too. Lee's many patients have included a North Korean soldier who was shot while defecting through the Joint Security Area (JSA) in 2017.