The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases is preceded by the Academic Division of the Korean National Tuberculosis Association which was established on November 6, 1953 with the goal of advancing the research and study on tuberculosis and respiratory diseases and eradicating tuberculosis in Korea. Medical professionals who saw the urgency of anti-tuberculosis projects in Korea sought to integrate the private anti-tuberculosis organizations that existed since the Korean war such as Chosun Tuberculosis Prevention Association, Christian Doctors’ Association, and the Korean Tuberculosis Association. As a result, the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases was launched at the assembly hall in the medical school of Yonsei University by Dr. Byung-Rae Park, the President of the Tuberculosis Prevention Association of the time, and other like-minded physicians such as Byung-Kan Koh, Myung-Sun Kim, Jong-In Kim, Chang-Mo Moon, Ha-Ryong Park, Ho-Sung Song, Yoo-Sun Yoon, In-sun Yoon, Ki-Bung Lee, Sung-Haeng Lee, Jae-Kyu Lee, Kap-Su Lee, Jong-Hak Lee, Ku-Choong Jung, Sang-Chae Choi, Young-Tae Choi, Chang-Soon Choi, Bo-Sung Han, Eung-Soo Han, and Kon Huh.

On October 15, 1961, the Korean National Tuberculosis Society was formally launched and Dr. Ho-Sung Song, the Auditor and Academic Committee Director of the Tuberculosis Association, was elected as the inaugurating President. The Academy became a full member of the subdivision society within Korean Medical Association (currently known as Korean Academy of Medical Sciences) in 1962, and changed its name to Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases on June 27, 1989 with the goal of expanding its scope to general respiratory diseases.

KATRD has 1,750 members as of April 2020. The Busan Chapter was formed in 1977, the Daegu Kyungbuk Chapter in 1985, the Kwangju Cheonnam Chapter in 1987, the Cheonbuk Chapter in 1989, the Kangwon Chapter in July 2003, the Daejeon Chapter in August 2007, and Jeju Chapter in 2012. The chapters are actively involved in academic exchanges and building fellowship among its members in manners that befit the respective regions.