The first monthly Endocrine Symposium was held in March 1979 with the support of Professor Hunki Min of the Medical School of Seoul National University, Professor Youngkil Choi of the Medical School of Kyunghee University, and Professor Kapbum Huh of the Medical School of Yonsei University. The purpose of the Symposium was a systematic research and discussion of endocrinology, as more people were showing interests in the growing number of endocrine disorders, including obesity and thyroid diseases. On July 9, 1982, the inaugural meeting of the Korean Endocrine Society was held at Seoul National University Hospital. At this meeting, regulations required for an integrated society, comprised of 6 chapters and 21 articles, were established, and Professor Hunki Min was elected as the president, Professors Byongsok Min and Hokyung Sung were elected as vice presidents, and 37 members of the Society were enrolled. As of 2014, the Society consists of 1411 members (946 life members and 465 regular members).

The members of the Korean Diabetes Association and the Thyroid Committee who were already researching endocrinology and who expanded their regular academic activities based on the first monthly Endocrine Symposium in March, 1979, held the 100th celebration meeting in November 1994, and the 147th symposium was held in March, 2007. The cases presented at the symposiums were collected to issue the first volume of Endocrine Cases in 1991, and the second edition was released in 2006, with future editions to follow.

The academic symposiums of the Korean Endocrine Society have been held annually since the first congress in 1985 following the inaugural meeting on July 9, 1982. Thereafter, the spring-autumn biannual congresses having been held since 1986. Training workshops have been provided to medical doctors, trainees, and specialists since 1995. Despite being a clinical society, annual symposium on science, education, and technology covering topics in the basic sciences and clinical endocrinology have been held in conjunction with the autumn symposium starting in 1997 in order to stimulate the interactions with basic scientists.

The Society released the first issue of the Korean Endocrine Society Journal in July 1986, and the journal was published twice a year by 1988, three times a year by 1989, four times a year by 1990, and six times a year starting from 2000. The Society established an online submission system in 2005 to facilitate the submitting process, and the entire journal archives were digitized for an easy access to our papers and data.

Clinical studies undertaken by the Society include the development of an online registration system for acromegaly, a rare disease in Korea, through the website of the Society. To this end, the Society is currently operating a foundation to help patients obtain expensive medicine required for the treatment of acromegaly, and is in the process of developing a nationwide register of patients with hypopituitarism.

In addition, the promotion board of the Korean Endocrine Society is providing promotion and guidance activities for rare endocrine diseases (acromegaly, hypopituitarism, hyperadrenalism, adrenal insufficiency, and hypogonadism) to raise the awareness of these diseases to improve the quality of lives of these patients. Most endocrine patients can have normal lives through an early detection and treatment, and this campaign will contribute significantly to national public health.

The Korean Endocrine Society alliance with the International Society of Endocrinology (ISE).