Ex-lawmaker Ihn Yohan named chief of Korean Red Cross

Former People Power Party lawmaker Ihn Yo-han delivers a speech during the party’s fourth national convention at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, July 23, 2024. Korea Times file

Ihn Yo-han, a former lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party, has been named chief of the Korean Red Cross, the organization said Monday.

Ihn was chosen through a vote by the organization's central committee and will take office for a three-year term upon approval from President Lee Jae Myung, honorary president of the Korean Red Cross.

"Ihn served in the medical field for a long time and was considered the right person to lead the Red Cross' projects based on his activities in the public health sector, and experiences with fighting tuberculosis in North Korea and supplying medical equipment there," the organization said.

Ihn, also known as John Linton, hails from an American family that has dedicated its services to developing medicine and education in South Korea.

His great-grandfather and grandfather were both missionaries, while his father was a U.S. Navy officer who participated in the Incheon Landing Operation during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Born in Jeonju, some 200 kilometers south of Seoul, in 1959, Ihn graduated from Yonsei University College of Medicine and worked as a doctor before entering politics.

He has been a naturalized South Korean citizen since 2012.

"I will dedicate myself to leading the Korean Red Cross' development and helping the marginalized under the Red Cross' humanitarian spirit and using my various experiences until now," he said.