Last year, young siblings from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) received liver transplant surgery at Seoul Asan Medical Center, donated by their family. Due to the limitations of transplant surgery in Middle Eastern hospitals, they typically transplant livers from deceased donors. In contrast, Korean hospitals can transplant a portion of a healthy person's liver. Because of this, since 2011, the UAE has been sending its critically ill patients to Korea with 100% government funding. Last year alone, 104 critically ill patients from the UAE received treatment at Seoul Asan Medical Center. On the 23rd, at ‘Medical Korea 2023,’ Seong Sook-kyung, team leader of the International Exchange Team at Seoul Asan Medical Center, said, “There are cases where patients with diseases that cannot be operated on in their home country come to domestic hospitals by air ambulance,” adding, “It is rewarding when foreign patients who were in poor condition return home happily.”
"Recovery of Foreign Patients Visiting Korea in the Endemic Era"
As Korea moves closer to full normalization this year, the number of foreign patients visiting for treatment is increasing again. Korean medical care is competitive enough that 18 domestic hospitals were ranked among the top 250 hospitals worldwide in 2023. Hospitals are also welcoming foreign patients, who had decreased due to COVID-19. According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the number of foreign patients using Korean medical services dropped sharply by 76.5%, from 497,464 in 2019 (pre-COVID-19) to 117,069 in 2020, but showed signs of recovery with 145,842 patients in 2021. Representatives from tertiary hospitals said, “Following the easing of entry quarantine measures last year, the number of foreign patients receiving treatment in Korea increased significantly.”
The number of overseas medical professionals seeking to learn Korean medical technology is also growing. According to Seoul A General Hospital, seven medical professionals from the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, received training this year in departments such as otolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology, and orthopedics. If this trend continues, the number of Middle Eastern medical professionals trained this year could surpass the 25 trained in 2019. Medical tourism for cosmetic purposes, such as plastic surgery and dermatology, is also increasing. A representative from the Gangnam Medical Tour Center, which connects foreign patients with hospitals and clinics in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, said, “Patients of various nationalities including the United States, Japan, China, Vietnam, and Russia visit Gangnam hospitals for wellness medical tourism,” adding, “Not only eye, nose, and mouth plastic surgeries but also hair transplantation surgeries are becoming popular among foreigners.”
Domestic medical professionals are also actively expanding overseas. According to the ‘Medical Korea International Medical Information Portal,’ the number of medical institutions reporting overseas business increased more than threefold in five years, from 10 in 2016 to 34 in 2021, totaling 125 institutions. The country with the most overseas expansion was China (44.8%), followed by Vietnam (13.6%). Korean medical professionals mainly establish skin care, plastic surgery, dental, and dermatology clinics abroad, and recently, traditional Korean medicine clinics have also started to appear.
‘Medical Korea 2023’... “Discussion on Attracting Foreign Patients and Overseas Medical Expansion”
At ‘Medical Korea 2023,’ held face-to-face for the first time in three years, business meetings were held between overseas officials and the domestic health industry to attract foreign patients and expand overseas medical services. A seller in charge of medical tourism attraction who participated in the meeting said, “Since COVID-19, Korean culture has spread worldwide through digital devices, and many foreigners have come to admire Koreans’ appearance,” adding, “This is why there is hope that medical tourism can revive as before.” Bilateral talks between Korea and various countries’ health ministers and vice ministers for smooth overseas medical expansion will be held on the 24th. Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong is scheduled to meet with Indonesia’s Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo will meet with deputy ministers of health from Armenia, Romania, and Kazakhstan to discuss health and medical cooperation in the endemic era.
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