Modern thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, including open heart surgery employing cardiopulmonary bypass, was introduced to Korea in the late 1950s, but it was not until December 16, 1967, that the Association for Korean Cardiothoracic Surgeons (AKCS) was founded. Originally a division of the Korean Surgical Society, the AKCS became an independent association thanks to the efforts of representatives from four university-affiliated hospitals in which thoracic and cardiovascular surgery had been separated from general surgery. On February 3, 1968, the creators of this new society for cardiothoracic surgery gathered to organize a preparatory committee, and shortly thereafter four preparatory committee meetings were held to establish the bylaws and structure of the society. The foundation of the Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiothoracic Surgery (KSTCS) was finally announced at the first plenary meeting of the society, on May 18, 1968.

Elected as the first president, vice president and chief director were Dr. Gyuk-Bu Han, Dr. Ki-Jeon Kim and Dr. Yung-Kyoon Lee, respectively. The original terms of the president and the chief director were each two years, but this was temporarily changed in 1977 to one year each, and later finalized in 1983 to one year for the president and two years for the chief director.

The foundation of the KSTCS prompted the Korean Medical Association to approve in 1972 the specialty license of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. The 1974 introduction of partially government-subsidized public medical insurance helped open heart surgery become more widely practiced in Korea. The establishment of The Korean Heart Foundation in 1984, one of the earliest charities supporting patients with congenital heart disease, further accelerated the development of cardiovascular surgery in Korea.

The 6^th Asia-Pacific Congress for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (APCTCS), held in Seoul in 1983, boosted Korea's image as a leading Asian center for cardiothoracic surgery, and KSTCS founding member Dr. Yung-Kyoon Lee was elected to be the seventh APCTCS president at this gathering. The KSTCS hosted the 4^th and 10^th Annual Meetings of the Asian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery in Seoul in 1996 and 2002.

At present, the structure of the KSTCS comprises the executives (president, vice-presidents, chief director, secretary, and auditors), the board of directors, ten committees, and 988 regular members. From the mid-1990s, the KSTCS has created a series of awards to be granted to members recognized for outstanding achievements in cardiothoracic surgery research and education. In 2005, the KSTCS held its 37^th Annual Meeting, with almost 900 registrants, 131 oral and 20 poster presentations, and three special lectures. At this meeting, nine outstanding surgeons received awards: two were given the Lee Yung-Kyoon Prize for their excellent publications in the Korean Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, two were given the Lillehei Prize for their excellent publications and contributions to the Society, four were awarded for excellence in oral presentation, and one was given the Park Young-Kwan Prize for outstanding research work.

Over the past thirty-eight years, the mission of the KSTCS has remained the same: to promote and foster education and research in the field of cardiothoracic surgery in Korea, accomplished primarily through its annual meetings, its Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and the efforts of its Public Relations and Education Committees.

There were 78 regular and 16 associate members at the time of the foundation of the Society in 1968. In 2006, the number of members had increased to 18 honorary, 988 regular and 132 associate members, totaling 1,120. Approximately one-third of regular members are in private practice, and an association for private cardiothoracic surgery practitioners was founded in 2001 to advance their interests.

The first scientific and plenary meeting of the KSTCS was held in 1969, and annual fall meetings have been held in Seoul every year since. From 1985, a spring meeting focusing on the continuing education of members has been held in addition to the annual fall meeting; hence the 38^th Fall Meeting and 22^nd Spring Meeting in 2006. Spring meetings have taken place at venues all over the country.

The first issue of the Korean Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (KJTCS) was published in December, 1968. The journal had originally been published twice a year, then in 1978 on a quarterly basis, and finally on a bimonthly basis in 1988. From 1991, thanks to the growing enthusiasm of those members conducting basic and clinical research in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, the KJTCS has been published monthly. In 1993 the manuscript submission guidelines were revised to meet international standards, and from 2005 all manuscripts and reviews have been submitted to the editorial board by electronic submission system.

Four Korean cardiothoracic surgeons (Dr. Sung-Nok Hong, Dr. Kun-Ho Kim, Dr. Yung-Kyoon Lee, Dr. Hoe-Sung Yu) worked as council members of the Asian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery, which was founded in 1972 and has held a biannual meeting ever since. At present (spring 2006), Dr. Hyoung-Mook Kim and Dr. Joo-Hyun Kim are council members of the organization; Dr. Kyung-Phil Suh is editors for the journal International Cardiovascular Surgery; and Dr. Bum-Goo Cho devotes himself to the journal Asian Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Annals as editor-in-chief, a position he has held since 1996. Dr. Cho is also distinguished by being the only Korean cardiothoracic surgeon nominated as a regular member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Also noteworthy are the thirty-three Korean surgeons who by the year 2000 registered as regular members of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.