Director Yang Hangwang of the National Cancer Center Named "Honorary Fellow" by American College of Surgeons

First Korean Surgeon to Attain Honorary Titles from the World’s Top Three Surgical Societies

The National Cancer Center announced on September 29 that Director Yang Hangwang has been named an "Honorary Fellow" by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), one of the world’s most prestigious academic organizations in the field of surgery.

Yang Hangwang, Director of the National Cancer Center, received the honorary fellow qualification at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2026 held on the 26th at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., USA. National Cancer Center

The ACS Honorary Fellowship is a special title distinct from regular membership fellowships. It is awarded to world-renowned surgeons who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of surgery. Recipients are selected through a rigorous process of recommendation, multi-stage screening, and voting by the top scholars within the society, without any formal nomination or application procedure. The title carries exceptional international recognition for surgeons, not only acknowledging academic achievements in the field but also officially recognizing leadership and contributions to the global advancement of surgical medicine.

Director Yang officially received the Honorary Fellow title on September 26 (local time) at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C., USA. Since first introducing the Honorary Fellow distinction in 1913, the ACS selects only a small number of surgeons worldwide each year to honor their achievements. This year, eight surgeons from Europe, Asia, North America, and other regions, including Director Yang, were awarded this title.

In April 2016, Director Yang was also simultaneously named an Honorary Fellow and member of both the American Surgical Association (ASA), the world’s oldest surgical society, and the European Surgical Association (ESA). With this ACS Honorary Fellowship, he has become the first Korean surgeon to attain honorary titles from all three of the world’s most authoritative surgical societies.

Internationally recognized as a leading expert in gastric cancer surgery, Director Yang spearheaded the creation of the Korea Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study (KLASS) platform. He demonstrated the oncological safety of minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic gastrectomy through large-scale, world-class clinical trials, influencing and updating global treatment guidelines. He has also led the standardization of function-preserving gastrectomy and fluorescence-guided precision surgery, and as Secretary General of the International Gastric Cancer Association (IGCA) and the head of major international academic bodies, he has directed multi-national collaborative research and education programs bridging East and West, significantly advancing the global standards in gastric cancer treatment.

Director Yang stated, "Being selected as an ACS Honorary Fellow is not just a personal honor, but recognition that Korean surgery has reached the highest global standards." He continued, "This achievement was only possible thanks to the dedication of all National Cancer Center staff, who have established the institution as a leader not only in clinical excellence and research, but also in management and public service." He added, "Going forward, we will faithfully fulfill our role as the national agency for cancer control and do our best to promote Korea's exceptional medical capabilities on the global stage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.