Celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of the Korean Chemical Society

Founded in 1946, the Korean Chemical Society (KCS), a nonprofit professional and educational organization, is one of the largest and most active professional organizations in Korea. The KCS, with 6,600 members, eleven regional chapters, and twelve academic divisions, engages in a wide range of chemistry and chemistry-related areas. The KCS actively takes part in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS) as a member, as well as Pacifichem as one of the co-sponsoring societies.

To celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the KCS, 101 articles published by KCS members since 2018 in Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journals, including Chemical Society Reviews, Chemical Science, and Chemical Communications, are collected in this virtual themed collection. In particular, the articles highlighted as Hot Articles or Pick of the Week from Chemical Science and Chemical Communications have been collected. In addition, the articles from the ChemComm Emerging Investigators Collection have been selected for this themed collection. We also included the articles published by leading Korean chemists and the RSC Journal Editorial Members with KCS Membership.

The KCS has established good relationships with other chemical societies. Especially, the KCS has continued to make an agreement for international cooperation with the RSC since 2009. Several events have been co-organized by the international cooperation between the KCS and the RSC. In 2010, 2012, and 2019, KCS–RSC Joint Symposia were held in Korea. KCS delegates attended the RSC International Chemistry Summit held in the United Kingdom in 2011. We believe that this themed collection also surely represents our international cooperation.

The KCS has been making significant efforts in advancing chemical sciences for the benefit of human beings. Through diverse activities, we have been (i) promoting communications among the society members, chemical industries, and other communities such as the Korean government to ensure high-quality research, economic growth, and public safety; (ii) popularizing chemistry and nurturing future chemists through education, outreach, and career development programs; (iii) strengthening the ties with other science and technology organizations through academic meetings and exchanges; (iv) supporting national and international activities to develop chemical sciences. The KCS has also been supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion in our communities. We do hope that this themed issue appropriately celebrates the 75^th anniversary of the KCS and illustrates our contributions to the development of chemistry and applications presented in RSC journals.

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