It is our pleasure to welcome you all to Asian EUS Summit 2016, which will be held from September 9th to 10th in Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. This meeting is organized by Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (KSGE) and the Asian EUS Group (AEG).

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) was introduced to clinical medicine in late ’80s. It was started as a crude radial imaging modality and linear EUS was introduced later. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) led this technique to another level and EUS became a tool for histologic diagnosis. EUS-guided pseudocyst drainage was the starting point of EUS-guided intervention. These days, many EUS-guided interventional procedures are performed actively including EUS-guided biliary drainage and EUS-guided injection therapy. Now this field is rapidly expanding and many Asian centers are leading this field. We believe it is timely and important for Asian EUS experts to get together and share their experiences.

The program of Asian EUS Summit 2016 is composed of didactic lectures covering most of recent development of EUS techniques and hands-on courses of basic EUS and interventional EUS. This will a festival for the leaders of EUS in Asian countries and a good learning place for the beginner of EUS.

Korea has four distinctive seasons and autumn is the best season for travelling and sightseeing. We recommend the speakers and delegates to enjoy not only academic meeting but also experiencing the traditional and modern culture of Korea.

I wish you all a very pleasant stay here in Seoul and hope that the conference will be a valuable and inspiring experience for everyone.

Thank you very much.