Han Jeok, Professor Shin Hee-young Elected New President... "Expecting Role in Inter-Korean Medical Cooperation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Professor Shin Heeyoung of the Department of Pediatrics at Seoul National University Hospital has been elected as the next president of the Korean Red Cross (HanJeok).

HanJeok announced on the morning of the 11th that it held a Central Committee meeting and elected Professor Shin as the next president, succeeding the current president Park Kyung-seo. The term of the new president is three years. The term of the current president Park Kyung-seo ends on the 15th.

Once President Moon Jae-in, the honorary president of HanJeok, approves the election of the new president, Professor Shin Heeyoung will officially take office as the 30th president.

President Shin, born in 1955, graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine (majoring in Pediatrics). He has served as a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Seoul National University College of Medicine, vice dean of academic affairs, director of the Seoul National University Unification Medical Center, and vice president for research at Seoul National University. In March of this year, he was appointed president of the Korea Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank Association.

During his tenure as director of the Seoul National University Unification Medical Center, President Shin was known to be actively involved in inter-Korean health and medical exchanges. There are expectations that he will also play a role in health and medical cooperation between North and South Korea in the future.

Seoul National University College of Medicine opened the Unification Medical Center in 2012 to prepare for post-unification by considering differences in medical standards, systems, medical terminology, and culture between North and South Korea.

Even when inter-Korean relations froze after the breakdown of the North Korea-U.S. summit in February last year, President Shin maintained the principle that health and medical cooperation should continue regardless of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

HanJeok is responsible not only for domestic disaster relief, welfare, public healthcare, and blood services but also for humanitarian projects assisting vulnerable groups in North Korea, inter-Korean family reunions, and support projects for North Korean defectors, as part of inter-Korean exchange initiatives.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.