Chan Sung Ko, MD, 97

August 10, 2022

Dr. Chan Sung Ko passed away quietly at Garden Spot Village on August 10, 2022. He was born in 1924 in, what is now, North Korea. He completed his medical studies at Yonsei University Medical College in Seoul, South Korea. He served with distinction in the Medical Corps during the Korean War, for which he was recognized and awarded by the South Korean government.

During his medical career, Dr. Chan Sung Ko was the chief of medicine and cardiology as well as personal physician to the South Korean President. He was the team leader in performing the first open heart surgery in Korea at the National Military Medical Center in 1962. He was in private practice until immigrating to the United States in 1969. Dr. Ko opened his own practice in Pottsville, PA healing patients there for over 25 years. He was very active in leadership for Korean physicians in the U.S. serving as president of the Korean Medical Association of the United States.

His passions outside of his medical practice were tennis and golf. In addition to his personal achievements, his legacy will be raising an extended family including 12 physicians. He is survived by three daughters: Ok Jin Kim, Hajin Kim, Sung Jin Kim, and a son Eugene Ko as well as their children. Dr. Ko will be remembered and loved by all. Funeral Services for Dr. Ko were held privately.