Ihn was born in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, South Korea,[1][2] as the youngest of six children.

[4] Ihn's family has been in Jeolla for several generations; in 1895, his great-grandfather Eugene Bell came to the province as a Southern Presbyterian missionary.

Ihn was, in part, motivated to address this issue because of his own experience; his father had died in such a car in 1984, after being hit by a drunk driver.

[2] Ihn is a Korean reunification activist, and has expressed support for providing further aid to North Korea.

[3] According to Ihn, he adopted a "moderate conservative" after Yoon Suk Yeol sought his assistance following his win of the People Power Party (PPP) primary.

[5] On October 23, 2023, he was appointed as an Innovation Chairman of the PPP, which had become the ruling party in the 2022 elections alongside Yoon's victory in the presidential race.

[9] Ihn has sparked controversy over certain comments he has made in the past, such as claiming that AIDS arises from not following the Bible as well as expressing support for Park Chung Hee and Paik Sun-yup.

[10][6] Ihn published an autobiography in 2006, entitled My Hometown is Jeolla-do, My Soul is Korean (『내 고향은 전라도 내 영혼은 한국인』).