The development of the field of plastic surgery over the last century and a half in the Western world has experienced tremendous advance with the introduction of new technology. Machinery has resulted in various accidents, and led to new types of injury. (Ed- or do you mean, “The development of the field of plastic surgery over the last century and a half in the Western world has experienced inevitable demands due to the introduction of new machinery in many industries which have caused various accidents and new types of injury.”?) Thus, surgeons have become focused on the morphological reconstruction of various tissues, including the skin, soft tissues, muscles, tendons, and nerves, of scarred tissues resulting from transplantation, and on functional recovery. These developments have coalesced into the new field of medicine called plastic surgery. The tremendous growth in the field of plastic surgery during the two great world wars of the first half of the 20th century suggests that many reconstructive plastic surgery techniques were initially developed to treat war injuries.

Ed- the following is quite an abrupt change from the development of ideas in the previous sentences; hence new paragraph.

When a country becomes rich and the average quality of life of its people is rising, people are inclined to focus more on their appearance with the increasing freedom of money and time. Plastic surgery developed further to satisfy women's basic desire to be beautiful, for those willing to undergo plastic surgery to attain such beauty.

The science of plastic surgery can therefore be divided largely into reconstructive plastic surgery and cosmetic plastic surgery, depending on the purpose. It has become an essential field in advanced medicine with rising worldwide demand.   

There were no plastic surgery techniques available in Korea around 1945 when Korea gained independence from Japan . Doctors at the time had never heard of the term, "plastic surgery". However, medicine in Korea took a new turn with the entry of Western doctors into Korea after gaining independence and as Korean doctors became able to access Western journals and different medicines such as sulfa drugs and penicillin. In the absence of plastic surgery, there are still records of missionary Western doctors performing skin grafts on patients with facial and finger disfigurement and contracture due to severe and chronic necrosis of the skin, skin defects, and burns.

With the outbreak of the Korean war in 1950, medical personnel from the US and UN began active treatment of injured patients. Among them, the US military doctors Dr. Millard and Dr. Stenstrom, who boarded a red-cross ship from Sweden in Busan, attempted various plastic surgery techniques including reconstruction. Despite the presence of these brilliant foreign doctors in Korea , they remained concentrated only on their duties and did not aid the promotion of medicine, especially plastic surgery in Korea .

Plastic surgery commenced when Western culture swept Korea with the stabilization of Korean society after the war. Illegal medical practices such as rhinoplasty and breast augmentation using Filler injection were introduced from Japan and the injection of paraffin into various parts of the body became prevalent under the term "plastic operation". The continued occurrence of some cases of complications from such Filler injection procedures of 40 years ago confirms that such inhumane practices were deplorable and a huge mistake made during the process of establishing plastic surgery in Korea . 

The importance of plastic surgery was realized in the mid 1950's when doctors who had learned advanced medicine abroad, including Europe and America , started to teach at colleges and universities in Korea . In August 1961, Dr. Jaeduck Yoo, who had specialized in plastic surgery in the US , founded the plastic surgery department at Yonsei University Severance Hospital , thereby initiating plastic surgery as a special field of medicine and training specialists in the field for the first time in Korea . Starting in 1964, lectures were given to students on plastic surgery in the college of medicine at Yonsei University and training was given to plastic surgery specialists. However, such training remained within the scope of general surgery. Thus, doctors realized that academic activities based on an academic society should lead plastic surgery as an academic field that could affect the medical world as a whole. Over time, plastic surgery became finally accepted as a special field of medicine. On May 15, 1966 , some 30 doctors from various fields of medicine, including general surgery, orthopedic surgery, ENT, and ophthalmology, who had an interest in plastic surgery established the Korean Society of Plastic Reconstructive Surgeons. The initial members included Kwanshik Min, Jaeduck Yoo, Euiyoung Lee, Gilyong Park , Chunshik Ju, Juneun Jung, Buhee Park , Moonshik Han, Kwangyoon Suh, Kwangwhae Kim, Inhee Jung, Kihong Choi, Giryong Kim, Changnak Choi , Uk Choi, Sewhan Kim, Sungchae Jung, and Daehong Min. At the first meeting, they gathered their thoughts on developing plastic surgery as a field of medicine, proposed the first draft of the constitution, and selected the board members (President, Kwangshik Min; chairman of the board, Jaeduck Yoo), thereby giving birth to the Korean Society of Plastic Reconstructive Surgeons and setting a path for growth.  

With the establishment of KSRPS, the members focused their efforts on spreading the basic concept of plastic surgery and academic exchanges through conferences and academic meetings so that the general population and ordinary doctors would pay more attention to plastic surgery. With the increase in plastic surgery, KSPRS members have become more numerous every year, rising from some 30 at the beginning to about 100 presently, (Ed- this addition moved from below; confirm the ‘presently') and many international exchanges have occurred. KSPRS was registered at the Korea Medical Association as a new medical society in 1966, accepted as a sub-medical society under KMA in 1969, and accepted as a regular member at the International Confederation of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (IPRAS) in 1970. Around this time, KSPRS began to promote serious academic exchanges through various avenues such as some 30 central academic meetings including the yearly conference held in fall and some 10 special conferences. (Ed- you have already above discussed the increasing number, so I've moved this data to above) In 1974, KSPRS published the first issue of the KSRPS journal. On the other hand, it proposed a program for training specialists in the field of plastic surgery for trainees who had complete their general surgery study. In October 1973, the Korean government proclaimed the revised medical law to accommodate the growing number of plastic surgery patients, thereby accepting plastic surgery as a new specialty in the field of medicine and increasing the number of formally recognized medical fields from 18 to 19. Thus, a program for training specialists in plastic surgery was initiated and the certification test for general surgeons produced 20 potential plastic surgeons. Starting in 1975, KSPRS became solely responsible for training and certifying plastic surgeons in Korea .  

For 10 years, starting in 1975, KSPRS developed into a mature society by focusing on improving the academic aspects of the field which lagged internationally. At the 4th IPRS Congress in 1967 in Rome, Greece (Ed- do you mean ‘Rome, Italy' or ‘Athens(?), Greece'!!), a revolutionary method of correcting craniofacial deformities was introduced by ‘name(s)' (Ed- best to give the presenters). Single stage transplantation was introduced in the early 1970's with the introduction of microsurgery in medicine, followed by liposuction in 1977. In response to these various international developments, excellent patient and research outcomes were published through conferences and journals within Korea . Studies on craniofacial surgery were reported in the mid 1970's and plastic surgeons reported on Finger tendon transfer and Hypospadias reconstruction. In the late 1970's, microscopic surgery such as skin flap transplantation and reattachment of amputated fingers and toes was first attempted at university hospitals. Reconstruction using microsurgery became an established part of plastic surgery in the early 1980's. On the other hand, KSPRS recognized the need for the development of local activities that operated independently from central control, so it established regional branches in the Busan and Kyungnam area in 1978, followed by the Daegu and Kyungbook area in 1979, promoting academic development through academic exchanges amongst the regions.  

In 1986, on the 20th anniversary of its establishment, KSRPS increased the number of annual conferences from one to two by opening the spring conference to further advance academic activities of its members. With the invitation of 1-2 famous scholars from around the world to the conference each year, KSRPS promoted academic exchange and focused on skill acquirement, paving the road toward international advancement. Each training organization also focused on developing specific areas of specialty through international exchanges. In November 1996, on the 30th anniversary of its establishment, KSRPS, for its 41st conference, hosted an integrated conference in concert with the 18th conference of the Korean Society for Surgery of the Hand and the 14th conference of the Korean Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Despite its relative youth, plastic surgery as a field of medicine has achieved significant developments in only the half a century that has transpired (Ed- would this be more accurate “in only the 60 years that have transpired”?) since Korea gained her independence. During this period, KSRPS has secured its place both nationally and internationally. The future goals of KSRPS are to further advance plastic surgery in Korea and to play a leading role in advancing plastic surgery in Korea to an internationally recognized level.