Yonsei University was built on the foundations of Jejungwon, Korea’s first modern western medical facility. Aided by some fortuitous turn of events, Horace N. Allen, a Protestant missionary and medical doctor, came to Korea and proposed the opening of a modern hospital to the Joseon government through the American legation in Korea. Allen’s proposal was accepted, and Hong Young-sik’s Jaedong residence was provided as hospital grounds on which Kwanghyewon (Jejungwon) opened in April 1885. Soon a medical school opened, and Underwood joined missionaries Allen and Heron as a teacher. Thus, even before the official merging of Yonhee and Severance in 1957, glimpses of Yonsei can be found already in Jejungwon’s makeup. After Allen left Korea, the Joseon government handed over management of Jejungwon to the missionary division of the American Prebysterian Church in September 1894, to which Avison was affiliated. Later, in 1904, the hospital was rebuilt on donations from Mr. Severance and continues to this day. Just before the centennial of Yonsei University in the early 1980s, the College of Medicine at Seoul National University began to claim that they were the true successors of Jejungwon, on the grounds that Jejungwon was government-established hospital like itself. This claim has been repeated sporadically to the present day, and this year SNU clearly intends to revive the so-called “origin controversy” by declaring a commemorative event titled “100th Anniversary of Daehan-Euiwon, 122nd Anniversary of Jejungwon.” Unfortunately for SNU, Daehan-Euiwon’s Japanese origin is drawing severe criticism from various quarters and threatens to throw a pall to the celebrations. SNU’s claims ignore the fact that the Joseon Dynasty, the Japanese colonial government, and the government of the Republic of Korea are fundamentally different political entities. Nobody will view the Emperor of Joseon, the Japanese Resident-General, and the President of the Republic of Korea with a sense of continuity. Moreover, Jejungwon had severed its ties with the Joseon government in 1894 and has since been a non-government institution, evolving into the current day Severance Hospital. It is preposterous to attempt a connection between Jejungwon and the SNU College of Medicine, founded in 1946 by the government of the ROK. Besides, ROK government has also founded many other medical institutions, and government-funded medical institutions have existed since the Three Kingdoms. Any attempt to find the true roots of government-affiliated institutions must therefore require a look further back into the past. Why satisfy oneself with 100 years? Why not 1400 or even longer? SNU's claims are so absurd that they need not be dignified with a reply. However, such disturbances may provide us with an occasion to look back on our history, to think over what history can teach us and how well we are carrying on the heritage of the past.