History

The Korean Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists was established to promote the development of pediatric anesthesia, exchange knowledge and information among members, and strengthen friendships. In December 1995, nine professors, Seong Deok Kim, Ik Sang Seung, Seong Ho Jang, Yang Sik Shin, Yong Taek Nam, Chong Sung Kim, Seung Woon Lim, Seung-Ok Hwang, and Jong In Han, agreed on the need for a research association of pediatric anesthesia. Accordingly, five professors, Seong Deok Kim, Seong Ho Jang, Yong Taek Nam, Chong Sung Kim, and Chi Hyo Kim, were appointed as executive committee members. These members planned the inaugural general meeting, and on March 30, 1996, they held the inaugural general meeting in Auditorium C of Seoul National University Hospital. Professor Byung-Te Suh presided over the meeting as an acting chairman, and the regulations of the society were decided. Professor Seong Deok Kim was elected as the president, and Professor Yong Taek Nam was elected as the auditor. At the first Steering Committee meeting held on May 3, 1996, the committee members decided on the details of the operation of the society, including the logo and annual membership fee, and planned the first academic conference. On October 12, 1996, the first academic conference was successfully held in the second lecture room of Seoul National University Children's Hospital. At the 4th Steering Committee meeting on April 29, 1997, the committee members decided to publish an academic journal of the society, and in September 1997, the first issue of the Journal of Pediatric Anesthesiology was published. On May 23, 1998, the name of the society was changed to the Korean Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists at the general meeting. The regulations of the society were changed accordingly, and Professor Yong Taek Nam was elected as the second president. Afterwards, the Korean Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists was registered as a society for the subspecialty of the Korean Society of Anesthesiologists. Since the first academic conference at Seoul National University Children's Hospital in 1997, the academic conference has been held twice a year until 1999, once a year since 2000, and the 20th academic conference was held at Gaesin Cultural Center, Chungbuk National University in June 2012. Currently, the regular general meeting is held annually, and the last revision of the regulations was made on August 27, 2018. The Journal of Pediatric Anesthesiology had been published once or twice a year after its first issue in 1997, and the last issue, Volume 9, Issue 2, was published in December 2005. Since 2006, the Journal of Pediatric Anesthesiology has been integrated into Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.