InterviewTempered by crisis, Lee Wang-jun seeks to lead Int'l Hospital Federation into AI-driven future

Lee Wang-jun, the president-designate of the International Hospital Federation, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in Mapo District, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of the Korea Biomedical Review

Lee Wang-jun, the incoming president of the International Hospital Federation (IHF) and chairman of the Myongji Medical Foundation, says true leadership reveals itself only in moments of crisis.

That belief has been shaped by more than three decades of overcoming major challenges in the Korean health care sector.

The year after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Lee acquired a bankrupt hospital in Incheon and built it into a 400-bed institution within a decade. In 2020, Myongji Hospital successfully treated the first Korean COVID-19 patient just five days after it opened the nation’s first emergency response center for the virus.

Drawing on those crisis-tested credentials, Lee now seeks to guide the IHF’s push into artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health care.

Founded in 1929, the IHF is a nonprofit association that connects about 30,000 hospitals worldwide, with more than 170 member organizations across over 70 countries.

Elected in November as president-designate of the IHF, Lee is only the second leader from both Korea and Asia to helm the body, succeeding Kim Kwang-tae, the Korean Hospital Association’s (KHA) honorary president. Lee will lead the IHF from 2027 to 2029.

“It’s meaningful to have my work recognized on the global stage,” Lee said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. “At the same time, it’s a recognition of Korea’s medical achievements, showing that our health care system is now respected internationally.”

That momentum will carry into next year, when the KHA marks the 60th anniversary of its membership in the IHF and the 49th World Hospital Congress is held in Seoul, bringing together hospital and health care leaders from around the world.

Lee Wang-jun, the president-designate of the International Hospital Federation, delivers his acceptance speech in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 13. Courtesy of Lee Wang-jun

Lee hopes the event will help Korea lead the digital, AI-driven shift in health care, which he views as his top priority as IHF president-designate.

“Everything now comes back to AI — it’s reshaping the world,” Lee said. “AI has many applications, but health care, which helps people live longer and healthier lives, is ultimately where all our technology is headed.”

Lee sees hospitals, the frontline of care, as the center of this transformation.

With countries taking different approaches and safety paramount, he says the IHF should set standards for the use of AI in medicine and bring greater consistency to the fast-moving field.

“I plan to introduce a Seoul Declaration on global AI health care next year and position the federation as a new standard-setter and the new platform in the field,” he said.

Lee added that applying AI in clinical settings, where safety is paramount, is highly complex, underscoring the need for a body that can link research to practice. He said that if such a center is launched, Seoul could host its headquarters and build a global networking hub, as Korea is well suited for the role.

Above all, he believes the most important task is building collective leadership rooted in broad-based intelligence.

“Now we are in a transition from a 150-year medical paradigm shaped by late-19th-century breakthroughs like germ theory and the microscope to a digital era led by AI,” he said.

In this transition, Lee added, leadership cannot come from one or two individuals or a handful of companies, and he is ready to foster that kind of collaboration with IHF members under his motto, “We are always passionate, and we are all compassionate.”

“Passion comes from the Latin pati, meaning ‘to suffer,’ reflecting the drive to pursue a goal with the energy and determination to endure hardship,” Lee said.

“Compassion is passion shared — the willingness to shoulder challenges together,” he added, saying this philosophy aligns with the mission of the organization and that he plans to open the IHF’s doors more widely to developing countries in Africa and Asia.