Remembering Chae Won Kim, Pioneer of Psychopharmacology in Korea

It has been ten years since Chae Won Kim, M.D., Ph.D., passed away. He was the first head professor of the Department of Psychiatry at Yonsei University after the Korean War and was the founder and first chairperson of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology. The honourable positions he held do not fully represent his contributions to the field of psychiatry in Korea. Instead, his academic work can support his contributions on psychopharmacology in Korea.

Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology after Korean War

The Korean medical system experienced turbulence after the National Liberation of Korea in 1945. Moreover, the Korean War affected the medical environment in Korea. Facilities were swept off and doctors mostly joined the army during the war. Despite the tragedy, during and after the war, with the help of the US army, several Korean psychiatric doctors visited the United States to learn about modern psychiatry. After the War, retrained Korean psychiatrists were crucial in rebuilding Korea’s medical and educational psychiatric system. The resident training system in psychiatry also began in 1958, mostly following the educational system in the United States [1]. In the 1950s, electroconvulsive therapy and insulin therapy were more prevalent than psychopharmacotherapy. In Korea, reserpin and chlorpromazine trials in 1955 were the first trials in psychopharmacology [2].

Psychiatry in the United States also underwent major changes during the 1950s. Before the 1950s, the number of patients treated in asylums grew dramatically [3]. However, with the emergence of modern psychopharmacology, the number of patients in asylums has begun to decrease. Chlorpromazine was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1954, and anxiolytic drugs (meprobamate and chlordiazepoxide), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (iproniazid), and tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine) were also developed in the 1950s [4]. Lithium, reserpine, and chlorpromazine were introduced in a randomised controlled trial in 1954 [5]. While psychodynamic psychiatry dominated the profession in the early 1950s, psychopharmacology formed symbiotic relationships with psychodynamic psychiatry [6].

Personal History of Chae Won Kim

Chae Won Kim graduated from Severance Medical College in 1948. He joined the army and worked for five years since 1950. After the war, in 1955, he moved to the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in the State of Missouri for training in psychiatry. Since then, there was no psychiatry training program in Severance Hospital until 1958. After completing his training and returning to Korea, Chae Won Kim became the first head professor of the Department of Psychiatry at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital, and started an outpatient clinic in 1959.

As the only professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital, Chae Won Kim initiated a psychiatry resident training program and reopened the psychiatric ward. As a head professor for 23 years, he has contributed to the education, research, and clinical development of the Psychia-try Department at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Hospital. In addition to resident trainees, he started educating medical students in behavioural science for the first time in Korea. Moreover, he served twice as the chairperson of the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association and established the Korean College of Neuropsychophar-macology, devoting himself to the development of the field of psychiatry in Korea.

Research Achievements of Chae Won Kim Based on Published Articles

Chae Won Kim emphasized the importance of the biological aspects of psychiatry. His academic work revealed his perspective on psychiatry. His original research articles were mostly related to psychopharmacological and biological aspects of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders. His doctoral thesis, ‘Electroencephalographic Studies of the Effects of Lithium Ion on Drug-induced Sleep (in Korean)’ [7], reported his experimental work comparing the pattern of electroencephalography during the sleep according to the use of lithium ion in rabbits. In this study, he attempted to identify the biophysiological role of lithium ions in treating mania and other psychotic excite-ments. He hypothesised that lithium influences the pattern of sleep in patients with mania and psychosis, which are usually highly pathological and unresponsive to diverse pharmacotherapies. He and his doctoral students have published additional articles related to the physiological effects of lithium ions, such as ‘the Effects of Lithium Ion on Endocrine Organs (in Korean)’ [8]. Con-sidering that the first randomised controlled study of lithium was published in 1954 [5] and lithium for the bipolar disorder treatment was approved in the late 1960s, his works were abreast of the state-of-the-art advances in psychiatry worldwide. As a pioneer of psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry in Korea, he expanded the experimental methodology of psychiatry for his doctoral students. As a supervisor, he helped students publish various articles that evaluated the effects of specific medications (cloxazolam, nortriptyline, thiothixene, and lorazepam) on blood alcohol level in rabbits [9-12]. As experimental research using rats in the psychiatric field was uncommon in Korea in the 1960s, his supervision of scientific research methodology can be described as unparalleled. In 1962, he became the first Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association. More-over, he tried to report clinical experiences by publishing studies such as ‘Changes in insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in Schizophrenia (in Korean)’ [13], and ‘Spasmodic torticollis in Chlorpromazine-treated Adolescents (in Korean)’ [14] in the Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association. He also reported a clinical trial a long-term clinical trial of clonazepam (Ro5-4023) in epilepsy, with particular emphasis on petit mal (in Korean)’ [15]. His clinical research focused on biology and pharmacology in the field of psychiatry. Sung Kil Min, the 7th and 9th chairperson of the Korean College of Neuropsychophar-macology, was a doctoral student who followed his academic course to develop psychopharmacology in Korea [16].

Fig. 1.

Portrait photography of Chae Won Kim.

Chae Won Kim published various articles for educational purposes. He reviewed treatments for various conditions, such as chronic schizophrenia, neuropathic pain, and organic psychotic disorders. Moreover, he reviewed the clinical use and side effects of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilisers. His educational work also focused on pharmacological approaches to psychiatric treatments.

He was introduced to the Hall of Fame of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences in recognition of his achievements in psychiatry and psychopharmacology in Korea. As a pioneer, he was a founding member of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology and became the first chairperson of the organisation. His pioneering spirit served as an important model for psychiatrists and researchers.