Dear Colleagues,

I'm Ki Ho Park, serving as the 21st President of the Korean Ophthalmology Society (KOS).

First, I'd like to thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve as the President of the KOS. During its more than 70-year history, the Society, thanks to the devotion of past presidents and directors, has developed rapidly and become a role model to other academic societies. The tasks of the KOS are so many that they cannot all be listed here, but I am going to introduce some that I'd like to emphasize.

I will make efforts to further raise the level of our Society to be more friendly and open to the public and responsible for eye health. Specifically, the KOS will propose setting up new regulations to promote public relations and enhance the eye health of the general public. There are many patients who do not check their eyes routinely and who therefore miss detection of vision-threatening diseases. Furthermore, preschool children's visual disabilities often go undetected. The promotion of eye health requires collaboration among ophthalmologists, governments, and the public.

One of the important tasks of the KOS is the Annual Congress. Only through academic gatherings wherein all members actively participate can productive development of ophthalmology occur. I'll try to make the Congress one that will make you feel satisfied, well informed and happy upon your return home. A good scientific congress should be "a congress you really want to attend." I will ensure that our Congress, in addition to sharing recent updates from each subspecialty, will share comprehensive information covering entire fields and provide the knowledge and skills that you definitely need as ophthalmologists. Active participation of members is important as well, so that you can make the most of your meetings with seniors and juniors, teachers, students, and friends.

We will pay due attention to the difficulties and problems of members in the field of primary eye care. We will do our best to solve those problems under the current harsh circumstances surrounding us by strengthening the power of the relevant committees, extending collaboration with the Korean Ophthalmologists Association, and, of course, maintaining close communication with our members.

We are living in an era where it is hard to predict how the world will change over the next five or ten years. Artificial intelligence, iris recognition, virtual reality, big data, and tailored medicine are already becoming familiar to us. Further, the recent viral-pandemic situation has changed our daily life patterns greatly. It is important to properly cope with such a rapidly changing environment. We will be with you at this important turning point. In addition, the Society will make every effort to help young ophthalmologists to become global leaders in the field of basic and clinical research. We will do our best to enhance the international status of the KOS so that everyone can feel great pride in being a Korean ophthalmologist.

The KOS is an academic society wherein the members ultimately are in charge. The President and directors are the members' servants. If you have any suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to let us know through the directors' offices or the Secretariat. The KOS will become an academic society that listens to the valuable opinions of its members and supports them as its number-one priority. Sincerely yours,



The 21st President of the KOS
Ki Ho Park, MD, PhD


(Juksun Hyundai building room 1001) 130, Sajik-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 03170 KoreaTEL : +82-2-583-6520 FAX : +82-2-583-6521 E-mail : kos@ophthalmology.org
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