John Linton

Dr. John Linton, better known as Ihn Yohan in Korea, is a 4th generation missionary descendent. His great-grandfather, Eugene Bell, arrived in Korea in 1895. Over the last 127 years, his family has been involved in the foundation of numerous schools, hospitals, and churches in Korea. He has been the Director of the International Health Care Center at Yonsei University Health System since 1991. Dr. Linton is renowned for his design of an ambulance system in Korea and creating the first Korean EMS program in cooperation with the fire department in 1993. He has visited North Korea 29 times, specifically focusing on the eradication of tuberculosis. He received the Order of Civil Merit (Mogryeon Medal) and the Order of Merit for his work on prehospital care in South Korea and his medical work in North Korea. Dr. Linton’s major interest lies in the poor state of public healthcare in North Korea. Dr. Linton received his master’s degree from Yonsei University College of Medicine (1987). After finishing his Family Medicine residency in New York, he returned to Korea (1991), where he then earned his Master of Science (2000) and a Ph.D. (2003) in Physiology from Korea University.