Dr. John A. Linton hosted a special lecture on the topic “Korea, Past and Present” at the KAIST International Center on April 15. He is the Director of the International Health Care Center of the Severance Hospital at Yonsei University. In his lecture, he briefly introduced the Linton family, Korea’s economic success, its current situation with North Korea and the excellence of the Korean people.

Dr. Linton put strong emphasis on Korea’s rapid economic growth and Korea as a lately industrialized nation. He emphasized that the primary causes that brought about Korea’s success are President Chung-hee Park’s bold economic policies, the driving force and momentum of the giant Korean chaebol (conglomerates), and the sacrifices of Korean mothers.

However, he also criticized some negative aspects of Korea. He asserted that Koreans should be more emotionally detached when dealing with political affairs and international relations. However, he stated that Korea has come a long way despite geopolitical disadvantages, starting from building a small textile industry to dominating the shipbuilding, automotive, electronics and aviation industries.

His perspective on Korean reunification was that in order to achieve peaceful reunification under the South Korean government, the Korean people need to change many fundamental views towards the ethnic population of Korea before dealing with North Koreans. He strongly believed that dealing with ethnic Koreans in China as well as multicultural families in the rural areas of Korea is the first step to opening arms to the North Korean people.

Dr. Linton was born in 1959 in an American missionary family living in Chonju, North Cholla Province. He received his Medical Doctorate at Yonsei University College of Medicine. He also works as a board member for Taejeon Christian International School (TCIS). Last year, Seoul Metropolitan Government nominated him as an honorary firefighter for his contributions in designing the fleet of ambulances used today in Korea.