The Korean Society of Spine Surgery was founded on April 6, 1984, with the aim of advancing the academic and clinical development of the spine field, and as the society with the longest history in Korea's spine-related fields, it has achieved continuous growth. From a mere 20 members at its founding, the Society has grown to more than 1,100 regular members as of 2024, and in 2024 it marked its 40th anniversary.
On its 40th anniversary in 2024, the Society newly declared a future vision centered on the core strategies of Consolidation, Teaching, Longevity, and Standardization, and it is actively pursuing academic, policy, and international exchange activities to realize it. Looking ahead, the Society has set its next tasks: industry-academia cooperation that connects AI, robotics, and big data to spine surgery, technical standardization and an international network for the minimally invasive and endoscopic surgery it has long led, and a stronger policy role that carries the Society's voice into health policy decisions.
As for academic events, the Society holds regular congresses twice a year in spring and autumn, and runs three continuing education courses for different audiences: a course for physicians in private practice each January, a course for residents each December, and a separate introductory spine course for junior residents entering the field. In 2020 the Society held its first International Congress (KSSS), opening the way to full-scale internationalization; KSSS 2026 (the 43rd Congress), held in Seoul in May 2026, marked the seventh consecutive year, with many overseas faculty taking part each year.
In 1994, the Society launched the Journal of Korean Society of Spine Surgery, Korea's first journal specializing in the spine field, which is now published four times a year as a journal indexed in the National Research Foundation of Korea and in Scopus. The English-language journal Asian Spine Journal (ASJ), launched in 2007, is indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and the ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index), and holds an Impact Factor of 2.7 (2025 Journal Citation Reports) with a Q1 ranking in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Published bimonthly at the end of February, April, June, August, October, and December, ASJ is the official journal of six societies: the Asia Pacific Spine Society (APSS), Middle East Spine Society (MESS), Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI), Taiwan Spine Society (TWSS), Chinese Spine Society of Medicine Education (CSSME), and the Korean Society of Spine Surgery (KSSS).
For in-depth research in the subspecialties of spine surgery, the Society maintains and actively operates nine specialized research societies: the Lumbar Spine Research Society, Cervical Spine Research Society, Minimal Invasive Surgery Research Society, Spinal Deformity Research Society, Spinal Cord Research Society, Korean Basic Research Society of Spine, Spine Osteoporosis Research Society, Spine Pain Research Society, and the Korean Geriatric Spine Research Society, which opened in 2025 as the ninth. It also continues its social contribution activities, including a program subsidizing spine surgery costs for medically underserved populations and public spine-health outreach through its official YouTube channel, SpineTube ↗.
Past its 40th anniversary, the Society reorganized, and fourteen committees now share its work. In 2025 it established the International Committee, consolidating its channels for international exchange. In 2026, to lead spine medicine in the age of AI, it launched four new committees, starting with the Planning Committee, which restructures operations across seven areas — academic events, industry-academia cooperation, external relations, journals, insurance, policy, and membership. The AI, Robotics and Big Data Convergence Committee connects new technology with the clinic, the Leading Technology Database and Standardization Committee builds large-scale clinical databases and technical standards, and the Spine Surgery Health Policy Committee supplies evidence for policy decisions. The official website was fully redesigned as well: it now runs in Korean and English side by side, gathers academic materials and past congress records in one place, and adds face search in the member photo archive and AI guidance available around the clock.
The vigorous clinical and academic activities of the members of the Korean Society of Spine Surgery are internationally recognized, and the Society will continue its ceaseless efforts to pursue academic truth and to advance further in the years ahead.
