The Korean Red Cross said on the 22nd that, after a Central Committee vote, it elected former Yonsei University International Health Care Center professor In Yo-han as its 32nd president.
President-designate In will assume the post after receiving approval from honorary Korean Red Cross President Lee Jae-myung, the president. The term is three years.
The Red Cross said of President-designate In, "Having spent many years in clinical settings, and based on experience in public health care, efforts to eradicate tuberculosis in North Korea, and support for medical equipment, In was assessed as the right person to lead the Korean Red Cross's blood services, hospital operations, disaster relief, and humanitarian international cooperation projects."
Because President-designate In is a former People Power Party lawmaker, this appointment is seen as part of President Lee's personnel push for unity. In served as vice chair of the Presidential Committee of National Cohesion on Park Geun-hye's presidential transition team, and entered the National Assembly as a People Power Party proportional representative in the 22nd general election, where In led internal reform efforts.
However, expressing disappointment with what was revealed over the year after former President Yoon Suk-yeol's Dec. 3 martial law crisis, In resigned as a lawmaker in December last year.
Born in 1959 in Jeonju, North Jeolla, President-designate In graduated from Yonsei University College of Medicine and earned master's and doctoral degrees in medicine from Korea University. In 1987, In became the first Westerner to pass the national medical licensing exam, and later served as a professor in family medicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine, director of the International Health Care Center at Severance Hospital, and president of the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH).
In was selected in 2012 as the first recipient of "Special Naturalization No. 1" in recognition of contributions including developing a Korean-style ambulance and providing medical aid to North Korea. President-designate In is the great-grandson of missionary Eugene Bell, who came from the United States in the 19th century, and In's family has continued education and medical work in Korea for four generations.
President-designate In said, "Under the humanitarian spirit of the Red Cross, I will draw on my diverse experience to lead the development of the Korean Red Cross and devote myself to helping marginalized neighbors."