KoonHo Rha

Dr. Koon Ho Rha is the Director of NAVER Healthcare Lab, Korea. NAVER is Korea’s premier IT company, services include search engine, on-line shopping (NAVER SHOPPING), fintech (NAVER PAY), Cloud services (NAVER CLOUD) and entertainment (eg. WEBTOON). Before joining NAVER in 2021, Dr. Rha was Professor of Urology and Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery Center. He received both his premedicine education magna cum laude and his M.D. degree from the Yonsei University, Seoul. Dr. Rha was trained during his urological rotating residency training at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He underwent fellowship training in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution as Engineering and Urology endowed fellow, and served as visiting Assistant Professor in Urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During his stay, he also completed “Business in Medicine” a 1-year MBA program at the School of Business Administration and Education. In 2005 at Yonsei University Dr. Rha set up the East Asia’s first robotic surgery program which now has the most robotic cases as a single hospital in the world with 35,000 cases. During next 15 years, Dr. Rha has performed the most cases in Asia with more than 3700 cases of robotic cases. Dr. Rha also led Korean surgical robot clinical trial which resulted in KFDA approval in August 2017. He has given more than 550 lectures on robotic surgery and performed live surgery or proctored more than 60 occasions in 15 countries including US, China, Japan, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India, Malaysia, Italy, Kuwait, Vietnam and France. Dr. Rha has more than 350 peer-reviewed scientific publications on minimally invasive urological surgery. On administrative side, he has served as the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Chief Operating Officer and the Chief Strategy Officer at Yonsei University Health System which now serves as foundation of basic knowledge at NAVER Healthcare Lab developing various innovative, AI -based healthcare services.

14th August 2025

Time Session
08:30
17:00
Asian Robotic Urology Society (ARUS)
  • Opening Remarks
    Jacob See-Tong PangTaiwan Speaker
    Tai-Lung ChaTaiwan Speaker
    Ponco BirowoIndonesia Speaker
    Allen W. ChiuTaiwan Speaker
    Mario Gyung-Tak SungKorea (Republic of) Speaker
    Yen-Chuan OuTaiwan Speaker
  • ARUS–PRUS Partnership Ceremony: A New Chapter in Asia Robotic Urology Collaboration
    Jason Lui LetranPhilippines Speaker
    Yen-Chuan OuTaiwan Speaker
  • Session 1: Advances in Robotic Surgery
    Allen W. ChiuTaiwan Moderator
    Yen-Chuan OuTaiwan Moderator
    Chi-Fai NgHong Kong, China Moderator
  • Enhancing Robotic Surgery with AI and Imaging Navigation: Bridging Precision and Efficiency
    Gang ZhuChina Speaker
  • From Console to Cloud: The Evolution of Robotic Telesurgery in Urology – Innovations, Trials, and Ethical Frontiers
    Xu Zhang China Speaker
  • Open Surgery Training: Is It Necessary in the Era of Robotics?
    John DavisUnited States Speaker
  • Hinotori Robotic System in Urological Surgery: Clinical Applications and Future Potential
    Ryoichi Shiroki Japan Speaker
  • What's Next in Urologic Robotics in Asia: Future Perspectives
    Mario Gyung-Tak SungKorea (Republic of) Speaker
  • Panel Discussion
  • Coffee Break
  • Session 2: Robotic Prostate Surgery
    Bo DaiChina Moderator
    Edmund ChiongSingapore Moderator
    KoonHo RhaKorea (Republic of) Moderator
  • Lessons from 20,000 Robotic Prostatectomies: A Global Expert’s Perspective
    Vipul R. PatelUnited States Speaker
  • Aquablation Revolutionizing BPH Treatment: A New Era of Minimally Invasive Therapy-Tungs' Taichung Metroharbor Hospital Experience
    Yen-Chuan OuTaiwan Speaker
  • Debulking the Primary: Robotic Cytoreductive Radical Prostatectomy
    Isaac KimUnited States Speaker
  • Robotic Radical Prostatectomy: Trying to Fit the Right Surgery to the Right Patient
    Cheng-Kuang YangTaiwan Speaker
  • Single-Port vs. Multi-Port Robotic Prostatectomy: Balancing Innovation, Precision, and Outcomes
    Simone CrivellaroUnited States Speaker
  • Comparison of Hood technique vs Retzius sparing RARP: Beijing Hospital Experience.
    Ming LiuChina Speaker
  • Panel Discussion
  • Lunch Break
  • Session 3: Robotic Kidney and Vascular Surgery
    Bannakij LojanapiwatThailand Moderator
    Jeff S. ChuehTaiwan Moderator
    Shancheng RenChina Moderator
  • Expanding horizons: SP for complex RAPN
    Ketan BadaniUnited States Speaker
  • Partial Nephrectomy: Managing Complications and Challenging Cases
    Hsiao-Jen ChungTaiwan Speaker
  • Robotic IVC Thrombectomy: Expanding the Role of Robotics in Vascular Involvement
    Xuepei ZhangChina Speaker
  • Panel Discussion
  • Session 4: Robotic Reconstructive Surgery
    Jason Lui LetranPhilippines Moderator
    Jianming GuoChina Moderator
    Pai-Fu WangTaiwan Moderator
  • Robotic Sacrocolpopexy: Techniques, Challenges, and Long-Term Outcomes
    Shingo MoriyamaJapan Speaker
  • Robotic Vesico-Rectal and Vesico-Vaginal Repair: Innovations in Complex Fistula Management
    Narasimhan RagavanIndia Speaker
  • Robotic Ureteral Reconstruction: Managing Strictures and Injuries
    Xuesong LiChina Speaker
  • Panel Discussion
  • Coffee Break
  • Session 5: Robotic Bladder Surgery
    Jeremy TeohHong Kong, China Moderator
    Rajeev KumarIndia Moderator
    Zhuo-Wei LiuChina Moderator
  • TBC
  • Step-by-Step: Intra-Corporeal Orthotopic Bladder Creation
    Wei-Yu LinTaiwan Speaker
  • TBC
  • TBC
  • TBC
  • Panel Discussion
  • Closing Remarks
    Gang ZhuChina Speaker
    Ryoichi Shiroki Japan Speaker
TICC - 1F 101D

16th August 2025

Time Session
10:30
12:00
Robotic
  • Robotic Surgery
    Jian-Ri LiTaiwan Moderator
    KoonHo RhaKorea (Republic of) Moderator
    Pai-Fu WangTaiwan Moderator
  • How to Standardize Training by AI-Learning from The Best Practice of Urological Robotic Surgery
    Ketan BadaniUnited States Speaker
  • Discussion
  • Da Vinci Surgery for Urinary Fistula
    Allen W. ChiuTaiwan Speaker
  • Discussion
  • Pros and Cons in the daVinci SP System Applications in Urological Surgeries
    Steven L. ChangUnited States Speaker
  • Discussion
TICC - 2F 201DE

17th August 2025

Time Session
08:30
10:00
Plenary Session 5
  • UAA Honorary Member Lecture: Learning through Giving Expert Opinion, a Hong Kong Case Book
    Teng-Aik OngMalaysia Moderator
    Chi Wai ManHong Kong, China Speaker
  • Normothermic Ex Vivo Kidney Perfusion for Urologic Discovery
    Shomik SenguptaAustralia Moderator
    Marshall StollerUnited States Speaker
  • Trend in Healthcare AI
    Atsuko FujiharaJapan Moderator
    KoonHo RhaKorea (Republic of) Speaker
  • Bridging AI Frontiers and Urology: How Multimodal and Agentic AI Will Shape 2025
    Pai-Fu WangTaiwan Moderator
    Chung-You TsaiTaiwan Speaker
  • Applying Vision Augmentation in Robotic Surgery: Reality or Fiction
    Rajeev KumarIndia Moderator
    Jian-Ri LiTaiwan Speaker
  • Big Data in Urol Science Research: from Scratch to Hatch
    Noor Ashani Md YusoffMalaysia Moderator
    Yao-Chou TsaiTaiwan Speaker
TICC - 3F Plenary Hall