Seok Woo Kim, MD, PhD

Dr. Kim is an orthopedic spine surgeon. He was born in Seoul, South Korea.

After completing his spine fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and St. Joseph Hospital in Towson, Maryland, USA, he returned to Seoul and became a full-time lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor at Hallym University School of Medicine, where he has been working for 25 years since 1999.  He has served as the head of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Director of the Spine Center at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital since 2008.

After graduating from Yonsei University, he became a doctor (M.D.)and received his Doctor of Science degree(Ph. D) from Korea University in Seoul.  After completing his internship and residency training at department of orthopedic surgery at Ewha University Hospital in Seoul, he became an orthopedic surgeon.

He is currently an active member of ISASS, NASS, CSRS, ISASS AP, APCSRS, PASMISS, KOSASS, KOA, KSSS, and is a deputy editor of IJSS, associate editorial board of TSJ (The Spine Journal), deputy editor of JASS, editorial board member of ASJ(Asian Spine Journal), and reviewer of several other spine-related journals. He served as the inaugural president of ISASS AP in Seoul in 2023, the president of the Pacifc Asian Society of MIS (PASMISS) in 2020, the president of KOSASS, the Korean chapter of ISASS, for many years, and is a board member of KOA(Korean Orthopaedic Association)and KSSS(Korean Society of Spine Surgery).

Dr. Kim is one of the key leading spine surgeons in the Asia-Pacific region, and has been devoted to research and surgery, especially cervical deformity, spinal cord injuries, OPLL(Ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament), DTI(Diffusion Tensor Imaging), cervical artificial discs, degenerative spinal lesions, minimally invasive surgery, and endoscopic spinal surgery. He has received numerous academic awards from several societies, including the 2018 NASS Best Paper Award(Radiology section), the Academic Award of the Korean Spine Society, and other spine societies. He also received the Minister of Health and Welfare Award from the Korean government in 2011 for his contributions to medical assistance and establishment of hospital facilities in medically underdeveloped countries such as Iraq, Vietnam, and Paraguay through KOICA(Korea International Cooperation Agency).

He is a well-known international speaker. He has been invited as a key speaker to hundreds of overseas lectures, live surgeries, and workshops, including the spine forum in Maryland, USA, APOA(Asian Pacific Orthopaedic Association), Indonesian Neurosurgery Society, Taiwan Orthopedic Association, Taiwan Spine Society, Chinese Academy of Orthopedic Surgery, and Chinese Spine Forum, Vietnam Orthopedic Association, Vietnam Spine Society(VIASS), Sohwa University Fujigaoka Hospital in Japan, and Thai Orthopedic Association. He has also been responsible for the training of numerous fellows in Korea and the Asia-Pacific region, who have played a key role in spine surgery in their respective countries.

Dr. Kim is the author of over 100 original articles and numerous journals, and has served as one of the contributing editors for several chapters of medical books. He has been mainly conducting research on quantitative objective diagnosis and analysis of spinal cord injury through diffusion tensor MR imaging and over 6,000 surgeries on patients with OPLL, DCM, cervical deformity, degenerative T-L spine  and other spinal disorders. He is particulary well versed in midline splitting double-door laminoplasty from C1 to thoracic spine,  complex cervical spine deformities, cervical TDR, various MIS surgeries, and endoscopic spine surgery.

In 2021, he was selected as the best doctor in the country in the field of cervical spine by the nation’s most prestigious EBS-TV educational program “Renowned Doctor (Episode 725)”, which selects the best doctors in Korea in each medical-related field.