Professor Yoo Dae-hyun of Severance Hospital’s Cosmetic Surgery department recently volunteered to provide facial reconstruction surgery for thirtyfive children in Yangon, Myanmar. The project was operated through the Inji Club, a group of plastic surgery professionals from around Korea who provide free treatments to young patients in Southeast Asia. The club’s name derives from the Korean proverb “Inji sang jung,” which means “the heart and empathy inherent in humans.” Inji Club volunteer medical missions began in 1997, when members visited Vietnam to provide operations for eighty children. Since then, each March an Inji Club team travels to a Southeast Asian country to offer free facial reconstruction services.

 

 

This year, the participants were Professor Yoo and ten other volunteers, who included plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, and nurses. Since 2003, Professor Yoo has been training young plastic surgeons from Korean provinces, instructing them on the latest reconstructive surgery methods. Professor Yoo is well known in this country for operating on Korean President Park Geun-hye and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert after their faces were injured in knife attacks.

 

Of the trip to Myanmar, Professor Yoo said: “Many children in Southeast Asia live with defects or deformed faces because their parents cannot provide funds for surgeries. I believe that if the plastic surgeons in Korea come together to give back to society, and if some Korean corporations support them in these medical services, many children will benefit. They will be able to smile brightly with their heads up.”

 

Since 1997, Inji Club has performed nearly 1,300 reconstructive procedures on children in Southeast Asia.