The nationwide surgical site infections (SSI) surveillance system was first established in 2007 as part of the Korean National Healthcare-associated Infections Surveillance System (KONIS). KONIS SSI surveillance has made significant progress by accumulating operational experience over the past several years. Recently, changes to policies and institutions have led to a rapid increase in the number of participating hospitals. In 2023, a total of 335 hospitals participated in KONIS SSI surveillance, and 20 operative procedures were assessed. However, KONIS SSI surveillance has encountered issues that should be resolved, including an increase in new SSI surveillance personnel, low participation rate of small hospitals, and surveillance focused on only a few operative procedures.

Keywords: Surgical wound infection, Data collection, Infection control, Epidemiology, Republic of Korea