Lee Yong-kak, organ transplant doctor, passes away

Lee Yong-kak

By Kim Ji-soo

Lee Yong-kak, professor emeritus of Catholic University of Korea’s School of Medicine, has passed away at the age of 93. Lee, who was the first doctor to successfully carry out kidney transplant surgery passed away on March 16.

Lee graduated from Gyeongseong Medical School, the predecessor of Seoul National University’s Medical School in 1945. He obtained his surgical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, in 1958, and then worked as professor at the Catholic University of Korea.

He also served as dean of the College of Medicine at the university, and then as president of the Korean Surgical Society and the Korean Society of Transplantation.

In 1989, he became the inaugural chief of the Inha University Hospital, to build up the general hospital.

In particular, Lee is well-known for the first kidney transplant surgery he carried out in 1969 when the concept was unknown in Korea at that time.

Lee has won recognition and numerous awards including the government’s Mongneyon Medal of the Order of Civil Merit in 1989 and the Hallym University’s Ilsong Award in 2016. In 2015, he was inducted into the “Hall of Fame” at the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

His altar is set up at the Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in Banpo, southern Seoul. His funeral will take place on Monday.