Dr. Kim Boo-seop with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev after receiving the Order of Dostyk, Second Degree, in Seoul on September 15, 2026.

On September 15, 2026, a story that began with a medical mission reached a new milestone.

In Seoul, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev presented Dr. Kim Boo-seop, Director of Hyundae General Hospital in South Korea, with the Order of Dostyk, Second Degree — one of Kazakhstan’s state decorations recognizing contributions to friendship and cooperation between peoples.

For Dr. Kim, however, the story did not begin with an award.

It began years earlier with patients in Kazakhstan.

And behind those patients was an even older story connecting Koreans and Kazakhstan.

What Is the Order of Dostyk?

“Dostyk” means “friendship.”

Under Kazakhstan’s law on state awards, the Order of Dostyk recognizes contributions to maintaining social harmony and strengthening peace, friendship and cooperation between peoples.

The order has two degrees: First Degree and Second Degree.

During President Tokayev’s September 2026 visit to Seoul, the Order of Dostyk, Second Degree was presented to five Korean figures from government, academia and medicine.

Dr. Kim Boo-seop was among them.

President Tokayev described the awards as an expression of respect and appreciation from the people of Kazakhstan and emphasized the long-standing friendship between Kazakhstan and Korea.

For Dr. Kim, the recognition followed years of work that had expanded far beyond an annual medical mission.

It Started With a Question: How Could Koreans Return a Kindness?

In our previous story about Dr. Kim, we explored why a Korean doctor kept returning to Kazakhstan.

The answer reaches back to 1937, when ethnic Koreans in the Soviet Far East were forcibly relocated to Central Asia.

Many eventually settled in Kazakhstan.

During the difficult early years of resettlement, local people helped Korean families survive and rebuild their lives.

For Dr. Kim, learning about that history led to a simple question:

How could Koreans return that kindness?

His answer was medicine.

Read the first part of this story

→ Why a Korean Doctor Has Returned to Kazakhstan for Nine Years — The Story of Dr. Kim Boo-seop

The first medical mission to Kazakhstan began in 2018.

It did not remain a one-time visit.

Seven Medical Missions, 9,017 Patients

According to the record documenting Dr. Kim’s activities in Kazakhstan, seven medical missions were conducted between 2018 and 2026.

During those missions:

9,017 patients received free medical care
220 surgeries were performed free of charge

In 2026 alone, Korean medical professionals examined and treated 1,468 patients and performed 20 surgeries.

The missions brought together large teams of doctors, nurses, hospital staff, medical students, interpreters and volunteers.

The work included much more than basic health screenings.

Patients received treatment for serious conditions requiring procedures such as joint replacement, surgery for congenital deformities, spinal surgery and complex neurosurgical treatment.

For patients who could not easily access specialized medical care, the mission sometimes offered something much more important than a consultation:

a chance to return to ordinary life.

Members of the Hyundae General Hospital medical mission in Kazakhstan. The missions have brought together doctors, nurses, staff, students, interpreters and volunteers.

Behind the Numbers Were Individual Patients

Statistics can explain the scale of a medical mission.

They cannot fully explain what a surgery means to one patient.

One patient had lived for 13 years with a severely deformed leg and persistent pain after falling from a horse and undergoing an unsuccessful operation.

A corrective operation offered the possibility of living without the pain that had followed him for more than a decade.

Another patient was an 11-year-old girl whose foot had been left deformed after a fracture and unsuccessful surgery.

She had lived with a metal fixation device and was so self-conscious about her leg that she covered it when going outside.

During the medical mission, she received corrective surgery.

A year later, she returned with her family to meet Dr. Kim again — this time without the fixation device.

The Mission Went Beyond the Operating Room

The work in Kazakhstan gradually expanded beyond direct patient care.

Medical missions also provided support to social institutions, including equipment and supplies such as:

wheelchairs
walkers and rehabilitation aids
medical and diagnostic equipment
school supplies
food
gifts for children

The program also maintained a connection with the history of Koryo-saram, the ethnic Korean community of the former Soviet Union.

Dr. Kim and members of the medical mission visited sites connected with that history and participated in activities intended to preserve the memory of Koreans who had been forcibly relocated to Central Asia.

Scholarships were also provided to students in Kazakhstan, including descendants of Korean independence activists and other Kazakh students.

From Treating Patients to Training Doctors

There is a limit to what any visiting medical team can accomplish.

A team eventually has to return home.

Knowledge does not.

That is why another major part of Dr. Kim’s work has focused on training medical professionals.

Since 2009, 169 international medical professionals have received training in Korea through programs initiated or supported by Dr. Kim, including 58 medical professionals from Kazakhstan, according to the supporting record.

Kazakh healthcare professionals have participated in:

surgical observation
clinical training
practical education
specialist lectures
medical conferences
hospital management programs
quality and patient-safety education

A four-month training program has included support for airfare, accommodation, meals, conferences, educational materials and living expenses.

The goal is not simply to show Korean medicine to visiting doctors.

It is for those doctors to return home with knowledge they can use in their own hospitals.

Building an Academic Partnership

The relationship also expanded into medical education and research.

Since 2019, Korea–Kazakhstan healthcare seminars have addressed topics including modern medical training, surgical techniques, hospital management, patient safety and quality improvement.

Around 500 people have participated in these educational activities, according to the supporting record.

On March 5, 2025, a memorandum of cooperation was signed with Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University.

The cooperation includes:

joint research
research funding
medical seminars
student scholarships
resident training
academic and clinical exchange

Financial support has also been provided through the university’s ANaMed Forum — New Generation.

In 2025 and 2026, five students each year received US$2,000 scholarships, while one faculty member received US$20,000 in research support, representing annual support of US$30,000 according to the record.

From an Annual Mission to a Permanent Hospital

This is where the previous Trend in Korea story ended.

For years, the relationship was built around medical teams returning to Kazakhstan.

But a volunteer mission has an unavoidable limitation:

A medical mission lasts for days.
A hospital can serve patients all year.

Dr. Kim is now leading a project to establish a 200-bed Korean-style general hospital in Almaty, in cooperation with Kazakhstan’s Shin-Line Group.

The project is being pursued through SLG-HYUNDAE MEDICAL and is intended to introduce Korean medical technology, clinical standards, quality-management systems and medical training.

The proposed hospital would include advanced specialized care while also creating local jobs and training opportunities.

The project is therefore not separate from the medical missions.

It is their possible long-term continuation.

Hyundae Hospital in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, opened in 2024. Dr. Kim’s experience establishing and operating this hospital is being applied to the proposed hospital project in Kazakhstan.

The supporting record states that the Mongolia hospital has 45 beds and three operating rooms and that this experience is being used in developing the Kazakhstan project.

A Record Beyond Kazakhstan

The Kazakhstan work is also part of a longer international medical history.

Between 2009 and 2016, medical missions organized in underserved areas of Mongolia provided free medical care to approximately 10,900 people and performed 649 free surgeries, according to the supporting record.

By July 2025, 109 Mongolian medical professionals had also received training in Korea.

In July 2024, Mongolia Hyundae Hospital opened in Ulaanbaatar.

The experience of moving from medical missions to a permanent hospital in Mongolia provides an important context for what may now happen in Kazakhstan.

The model is no longer simply:

visit → treat → leave.

It is increasingly:

treat → train → cooperate → build something that remains.

Why the Order of Dostyk Matters

On September 15, 2026, President Tokayev personally presented Dr. Kim with the Order of Dostyk, Second Degree in Seoul.

The award did not recognize a single surgery or a single medical mission.

The documented record behind it spans medical care, surgery, professional training, scholarships, academic cooperation, community support and a long-term hospital project.

That makes the meaning of the award especially fitting.

Dostyk means friendship.

And Kazakhstan’s law defines the order around contributions to peace, friendship and cooperation between peoples.

Dr. Kim described the honor not simply as recognition of an individual achievement, but as a reflection of the friendship and trust built together by Kazakhstan and Korea.

The Order of Dostyk, Second Degree, presented to Dr. Kim Boo-seop by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan in Seoul on September 15, 2026.

From Gratitude to Friendship — and What Comes Next

The first chapter of this story began with history.

Koreans were forcibly relocated to Central Asia.

Local people helped them survive.

Decades later, a Korean doctor asked how that kindness might be returned.

The answer began with medicine.

Then came repeated medical missions.

Surgeries.

Training.

Scholarships.

Research.

Institutional cooperation.

And plans for a hospital.

In September 2026, that long relationship was recognized with an award whose name captures the story in a single word:

Dostyk — Friendship.

But perhaps the most important part of this story is what happens after the medal is placed in its case.

The medical missions continue.

Doctors continue to be trained.

Students continue to be supported.

And in Almaty, the effort to turn several days of medical volunteering each year into 365 days of healthcare cooperation is moving toward its next chapter.

The previous Trend in Korea article ended with a question:

Can a relationship built through several days of volunteer medicine each year become a healthcare partnership that lasts 365 days a year?

The Order of Dostyk does not answer that question by itself.

But it marks how far that relationship has already come.

Continue This Story