CHAPTER
3: 1980–1996
6. Biographies Han Sang-tae Pioneer of International Health
© WHO
an interpreter for a United Nations medical officer during the Korean War.
QQ Han Sang-tae
H
an Sang-tae was born in Sajik-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, in 1928 when the Republic of Korea was still under Japanese control. After graduating from Kyungbok High School and Seoul National University College of Medicine, he went on to get his master’s degree in public health at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. He received his doctoral degree in medicine at his alma mater, Seoul National University, in 1967. Han had an excellent command of English. Even foreigners who met him expressed their admiration for his fluent English. His English skills can be traced to the influence of his father who was an English teacher and Han’s work as
After graduating from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1955, Han began his career as a government officer at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (MOHSA) on the recommendation of his uncle who was the vice-minister of Health and Social Affairs. Throughout his career, he held various posts at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, including director of the Health Medical Care Equipment Management Division, leader of the mobile leprosy diagnosis and treatment team, director of the Planning Division, director of the Communicable Disease Control Division, and director-general of the Health Service Policy Bureau. Han pushed various projects that seemed unimaginable under the circumstances of the country at the time, such as the establishment of the public health centre network, administration of poliomyelitis vaccine and the construction of settlements for leprosy patients. From 1958 to 1967, when Han was working at MOHSA, the national budget and the outlays for human resources for health were insufficient to promote these activities. As such, Han used his excellent English and interpersonal skills to secure assistance from many development partners such as WHO, UNICEF and United States Operations Mission (USOM). In 1967, after shifting his career focus to international health, Han joined WHO as a health development adviser in Western Samoa (now Samoa). In April 1968, he was appointed as the first WHO Country Liaison Officer in Samoa. In 1970, he became the first Korean national to work at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific in Manila when he accepted the post of regional adviser for health systems. He was promoted to the position of direc-
110 70 years working together for health – the World Health Organization and the Republic of Korea
