Korea University Anam Hospital Professor Kang Seokho Demonstrates South Korea's First Cross-Border Remote Surgery

Remote operation of a surgical robot in Shanghai, China, about 870 km from Seoul
Preclinical demonstration using an animal model... exploring potential applications in polar regions and space

Professor Kang Seokho of the Department of Urology at Korea University Anam Hospital demonstrated a cross-border remote surgery linking South Korea and China in real time.

Korea University Anam Hospital announced on October 19 that Professor Kang had demonstrated South Korea's first cross-border remote surgery using a commercially available surgical robot platform on October 16 at the 78th Annual Congress of the Korean Urological Association (KUA 2026), held at COEX in Seoul.

Professor Kang Seokho performs a cross-border telesurgery using robotic surgical equipment on the 16th. Korea University Anam Hospital

Professor Kang operated the robot from a surgical console set up at COEX. The surgical robot in Shanghai, China, about 870 km from Seoul in a straight line, reproduced his movements in real time and performed surgery on an animal model. The demonstration used Tumai, a surgical robot made by China's MicroPort MedBot.

Remote surgery involves a doctor operating a surgical robot in real time over a telecommunications network while physically separated from the patient. It is attracting attention as a technology that could improve access to medical care by providing surgical treatment in areas that specialists have difficulty reaching in person, as well as at disaster sites.

A leading example of long-distance remote surgery is the Lindbergh operation, performed in 2001. At the time, a medical team in New York remotely operated a surgical robot to perform a cholecystectomy on a patient in Strasbourg, France. Since then, advances in telecommunications networks and robotics have expanded the potential applications of remote surgery.

However, expanding remote surgery into a standard medical service will require addressing not only safety measures to prepare for network disruptions and cybersecurity, but also regulations governing medical practice across national borders, the allocation of responsibility among medical professionals, and costs and insurance systems. This demonstration was a preclinical trial involving an animal model; further validation of patient safety and clinical efficacy will be needed before the technology can be used on actual patients.

Remote surgery technology is expanding beyond connecting geographically distant medical institutions to applications in extreme environments such as space. As demonstrations of remote surgical robot technology are conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and elsewhere, researchers are also studying its potential use in environments that medical professionals cannot easily access in person.

Professor Kang said, "This demonstration is significant because it showed how remote surgery can be carried out in an actual surgical environment across the physical distance between South Korea and China." He added, "Before it can be used in clinical settings, it will require thorough validation of patient safety and the institutional framework." He continued, "With these foundations in place, remote surgery could expand the possibilities for surgical treatment in areas that specialist medical professionals have difficulty reaching in person," adding, "In the long term, we could explore its potential use not only at sea and in polar regions, but also in extreme environments such as space."

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