Section 1    Name

The official name of the organization shall be KAROS (Korean Association of Robotic Surgeons)

Section 2    Purpose

The purpose of the association stands as to promote the specialization, standardization and advance in the field of robotic surgery through research in robotic surgery for diseases in need of surgical operations, sharing of knowledge, promotion of mutual friendships and cooperation with national and international related organizations.

Section 3    Affairs and Business

The association shall enforce below affairs to achieve the upper-mentioned objectives.

• 1. Hold Academic Conferenced, Academic Group Meetings, Lectures, etc.
• 2. Publish journals and other academic publications.
• 3. Exchange knowledge and information both nationally and internationally
• 4. Promote short- and long-term research projects and support research activities of the members.
• 5. Cooperate with related associations and organizations.
• 6. Advocate the education, mutual friendships and the rights of the members.
• 7. Other activities in need of achieving the objectives of the organization

Section 4    Office

The office of KAROS is located at the hospital that the President of the association belongs to.

Section 5    The Qualifications and the Organization of Members

The association consists of members as below:

• 1. Active Members: A specialist in the Korean Surgical Society that is in approval of KAROS who fulfills the payment of the annual membership fee along with the admission fee, and who has been approved by the Board of Directors. (Decision of including the experience of robotic surgery, accumulation of experience in surgery, etc. as criteria still remains)
• 2. Associate Members: One who has been approved by the Board of Directs and who works in the field related to robotic surgery, is enrolled in a surgical training program that has been approved by the Korean Surgical Society, or participates professionally in robotic surgeries (as nurse, coordinators, etc.)
• 3. Honorary Members: members with a specialty in the field other than the Korean Surgical Society that is in approval of KAROS or with a nationality other than that of Rep. of Korea, etc. who has made a great contribution to the field of robotic surgery and has been nominated by the Board of Directors.

Section 6    Rights and Obligations

1. 1. Members have the obligations to actively participate in the affairs and business of the association to achieve the objectives mentioned in the bylaws.
2. 2. Active members shall participate in the activities of the association, are granted with the right to speak, right to vote, qualification to run for an election and other voting rights, and can receive various documents and verifications that the association publishes. However, associate members and honorary members are not granted with the right to run for elections.

Section 7    Disciplinary Actions

Members who has not fulfilled any obligations of a member for over 2 years without any justifiable cause or who has violated the medical ethics and resulted in the defamation of the association will can be subjected to the loss of membership or disciplinary actions after the review of the Board of Directors.

Section 8    Board Members

The association appoints below Board Members to achieve its objectives.

1. 1. One (1) President
2. 2. Two (2) vice-Presidents (One (1) with Seoul as the place of profession and one (1) with place other than Seoul as the place of profession.)
3. 3. About ten (10) Executive Directors
4. 4. One (1) Auditor
5. 5. One (1) Honorary President
6. 6. One (1) President for the succeeding term

Section 9    Obligations of the Board Members

1. 1. The president shall serve as the chair at the meetings of General Assembly, Board of Directors, Executive Committee and etc. as a representative of KAROS.
2. 2. Vice-presidents shall assist the President. The elder between the two (2) vice-Presidents shall be appointed as the chief vice-President and will substitute the duties of the President during the absence of the President.
3. 3. Each Executive Director shall become the Chairman of each committee and fulfills below affairs. When in need, the Executive Director can assistant administrators or members. The number of members for each committee cannot exceed ten (10).
   1. 1) General Affairs Director shall take the responsibility of managing the practical affairs of the association
   2. 2) Project Director shall take the responsibility of planning the affairs of the association.
   3. 3) Academic Director shall take the responsibility of matters related to academics.
   4. 4) Editing Director shall take the responsibility of editing the academic journal of the association.v
   5. 5) Research Director shall take the responsibility of research related affairs, review of the candidates and selection of the winners of the related academic awards, investigation and report of the achievements of the candidates.
   6. 6) Education and Training Director shall take the responsibility of the affairs related to the education and training of the members.
   7. 7) Finance Director shall take the responsibility of the financial affairs of the association according to the directions of the Executive Committee.
   8. 8) Public Relations Director shall take the responsibility of the public relations of the association.
   9. 9) Insurance Director shall take the responsibility of the affairs related to medical insurance.
   10. 10) Medical Evaluation Director shall take the responsibility of reviewing and arbitration of medical disputed and managing insurance related to specialist compensation.
   11. 11) International Cooperation Director shall take the responsibility of affairs related to the support of international academic exchanges and international academic activities of the members.
   12. 12) Ethics Director shall take the responsibility of managing the amendments of the bylaws and can discuss, warn and take disciplinary actions on matters of ethics violations of members
   13. 13) Information Director shall take the responsibility of collecting and managing information needed for the academic affairs of the association.
   14. 14) The Executive Committed shall vote on the approval of the role of a Director in need of the association.
4. 4. The Auditor shall audit inspect the financial affairs of the association and report to the General Assembly about the findings.
5. 5. The Board Members shall be present at the executive committee in exercise of one’s authority.

Section 10    Election of the Board Members

1. 1. President shall be elected by the Board of Directors and be approved by the General Assembly.
2. 2. President for the succeeding term shall be elected by the Board of Directors a year before the termination of the current Presidency and be approved by the General Assembly upon inauguration.
3. 3. Auditor shall be elected with a majority vote by the members present at the General Assembly
4. 4. Vice-Presidents and Executive Directors shall be recommended by the Board of Directors and shall be approved by the General Assembly.
5. 5. President for the former term shall be appointed as the Honorary President.
6. 6. The organization of the advisory committee
   1. 1) Members of the advisory committee of the association will be appointed by the President after the approval from the Board of Directors and be chosen from former Presidents and those who have made significant contribution to the development of the association.
   2. 2) President can call for the advisory committee when needed. In such case, the President shall become the chair of the meeting.

Section 11    Terms of Board Members

1. 1. Term for the President and Board Members stand as two (2) years. Academic Director and Editing Director can be reappointed for a term of one (1) additional year.
2. 2. The director appointed to fill in a vacancy shall be subjected to the remainder of the predecessor’s term of duty.
3. 3. The members of the advisory committee shall be subjected to an equal term of duty as that of Director’s.

Section 12    General Assembly

1. 1. The General Assembly shall be composed of regular general meeting and temporary general meeting where the President holds the duty of a chair.
2. 2. The President shall call for a regular General Assembly once a year of which to be combined with the academic conference.
3. 3. The President shall call for a temporary General Assembly for circumstances with the demand of more than one fifth of the active members, request from the Board of Directors, or recognition of its necessity by the President.
4. 4. The President shall announce the call for members no later than 15 days before the regular General Assembly and 7 days before the temporary General Assembly.
5. 5. The quorum of the General Assembly shall depend on the number of attendees; resolutions will be resolved through a majority vote of the members present at the assembly. However, important affairs such as the amending the bylaws or taking disciplinary actions shall require a two third majority vote from the members present at the assembly.
6. 6. Chair does not hold a right to vote but a right to make a final decision when a tie occurs.
7. 7. Matters decided at the General Assembly shall be recorded on the proceedings that will be signed and seals by the chair to be kept of record.

Section 13    Matters for Resolution

The General Assembly shall vote on following matters.

1. 1. Matters relating to the approval of an election for director
2. 2. Matters of bylaws enactment and amendment
3. 3. Matters of accounts settlement and business plans
4. 4. Other necessary matters

Section 14    Organization of the Board of Directors

1. 1. The Board of Directors shall include the President, vice-Presidents, Executive Directors and Auditor; President will call for and chair the board meeting. However, Honorary President and President for the succeeding term can be present at the board meeting.
2. 2. The board meeting shall include the regular board meeting and temporary board meeting.
3. 3. Regular meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held more than two (2) times per year; the President can call for a temporary meeting of the Board of Directors when its necessity of recognized by the President or when demand from more than one third of the Executive Directors is present.
4. 4. The President shall announce the call for directors no later than 10 days before the regular board meeting and 5 days before the temporary board meeting.
5. 5. The quorum of the meeting of the Board of Directors shall established upon the attendance of a majority of Directors; resolutions will be resolved through a majority vote of the Directors present at the assembly. However, important affairs such as the amending the bylaws or taking disciplinary actions shall require a two third majority vote from the directors present at the assembly. Chair does not hold a right to vote but a right to make a final decision when a tie occurs.
6. 6. Honorary President and the President for the succeeding term may be present at the board meetings to state their opinions without a right to cast a vote.

Section 15    Resolutions

The Executive Committee shall consider and decide on below affairs relating to the management of the association.

1. 1. Affairs of the qualifications of the members
2. 2. Affairs relating to the changes in admission fee and/or annual membership fee
3. 3. Affairs of business plans
4. 4. Affairs relating to the approval of the compilation, execution and settlement of budget
5. 5. Affairs relating to the amendments and changes in the organization and other bylaws of the association
6. 6. Affairs of reward and punishment
7. 7. Affairs relating to the preparation of the General Assembly and academic conferences
8. 8. Affairs of agendas decided by each committee
9. 9. Affairs entrusted by the General Assembly
10. 10. Other affairs relating to the management of the association’s business
11. 11. The assistant administrator shall record the matters decided by the Board of Directors; General Affairs Director shall present the decided matter at the succeeding General Assembly for approval.

Section 16    Academic Conferences

Academic conference shall be held more than once per year and can be enforced additionally in combination with the General Assembly.

Section 17    Fiscal Year

The date of the annual General Assembly shall be the beginning of the fiscal year of the association.

Section 18Finance

The finance of the association shall be supplied from the admission fee and annual fee of the members, enrollment fee for academic conferences and other donations. The amount of the admission fee, annual membership fee for members and enrollment fee for academic conferences shall be set by the Executive Committee, voted upon by the Board of Directors and approved by the General Assembly. However, the annual membership fee will be waived for active members of ages 65 and above.

Section 19    Budget and Closing Account

1. 1. The budget and plans of business and affairs of the association shall be voted upon by the Board of Directors and receive approval from the General Assembly.
2. 2. The settlement of revenue and expenditure account shall be voted upon by the Board of Directors of the next term and receive approval from the General Assembly after the corresponding fiscal year.
3. 3. Profits shall not be distributed to the board members nor the members.

Section 20    Amendments of the Bylaws

1. 1. The Board of Directors can present the amendments of the bylaws to the Board of Directors when in need.
2. 2. Countersignature of more than 20 active members shall lead to the presentation of the amendments of the bylaws to the Board of Directors.
3. 3. The Board of Directors shall vote on the amendments without a discussion to follow the elaboration
4. 4. The amendments of the bylaws that have been approved by the Board of Directors shall need the approval from the General Assembly.

Section 21    Date of Enforcement

1. 1. The date of the enforcement of the first bylaws is the date of its approval at the inaugural assembly (May 11, 2013).
2. 2. The date of the enforcement of the amended bylaws is the date of its approval from the General Assembly.

Section 22    Others

Matters not specified in the bylaws apply to the general practices of the association.