NCC chief Yang Han-kwang named honorary fellow of American College of Surgeons

Yang Han-kwang, president of the National Cancer Center and a leading authority in gastric cancer surgery, has been named an honorary fellow of the American College of Surgeons — a distinction awarded to only a handful of surgeons worldwide.

The National Cancer Center announced that Yang was selected as an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), one of the world's foremost surgical academic organizations.

Unlike regular fellowship, which is obtained through a standard membership process, the ACS honorary fellowship is a special distinction conferred by the society on surgeons of exceptional global standing who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of surgery. The designation represents the highest international recognition a surgeon can receive, acknowledging not only scholarly achievement but also leadership and contribution to the advancement of surgery worldwide.

Yang formally received the honor Saturday (local time) at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Since first conferring the honorary fellowship in 1913, the ACS has selected a small number of surgeons each year to honor their contributions; in 2026, eight surgeons from Europe, Asia, North America and other regions — including Yang — were named honorary fellows.

Yang had previously been named an honorary fellow and member of both the American Surgical Association (ASA) and the European Surgical Association (ESA) simultaneously in April 2016. With this latest ACS honorary fellowship, Yang has become the first Korean surgeon to hold honorary titles from all three of the world's most prestigious surgical societies — the ASA, ESA and ACS.

The honor carries added significance in that it required no self-nomination or application. It was conferred entirely through rigorous recommendations by the society's most eminent scholars, followed by a multi-stage review and vote that recognized Yang's academic and clinical achievements in full.

A globally recognized authority in gastric cancer surgery, Yang led the establishment of the Korean Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study (KLASS) platform and spearheaded large-scale clinical trials that demonstrated the oncological safety of minimally invasive gastrectomy using laparoscopic and robotic techniques — research that reshaped global treatment guidelines. He has also led the standardization of function-preserving gastrectomy and fluorescence-guided precision surgery, and in his role as secretary-general of the International Gastric Cancer Association and other major international bodies, he has directed multinational collaborative research and education programs that have raised the standard of gastric cancer treatment worldwide.

Yang's global academic leadership has also translated directly into institutional gains at the National Cancer Center. The center recently earned the top ranking among public medical institutions in the government's public institution management performance evaluation, achieving an A (excellent) rating for three consecutive years, and also received the top A rating in the Board of Audit and Inspection's self-audit activity assessment — demonstrating its credibility and transparency as the nation's central institution for cancer care, research and public health.

"This ACS honorary fellowship is more than a personal honor — it is recognition that Korean surgery has reached the highest level on the world stage," Yang said. "It was made possible by the dedication of every member of the National Cancer Center staff, who have positioned the institution at the forefront not only in clinical care and research but across management and public service as well." He added that he would continue to fulfill the center's duty as the nation's central cancer control agency and work to bring Korea's outstanding medical capabilities to greater international attention.