Baek Hospital Closing, Plans to Reorganize as 'Foreigners-Only Hospital'...

Bereaved Families Propose 'K-Medital Hub' Restructuring Plan
Challenges Like 'Resolving Regional Medical Gaps' Remain

A plan has been proposed to reorganize Seoul Baek Hospital, which was decided to close due to repeated deficits, into a 'K-Medical Hub' attracting foreign tourists. However, since this proposal is essentially an opinion to create a 'hospital exclusively for foreigners,' it is expected to be difficult to satisfy the opposition argument of 'resolving the local medical vacuum.' Moreover, the internal situation of Inje University is also complicated, so the controversy is expected to continue for the time being.

On the 20th of last month, when the board meeting regarding the closure of Seoul Baek Hospital was held, employees opposing the closure were holding placards at Baek Hospital in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

According to Seoul City and others on the 9th, Professor Baek Jin-kyung of Inje University’s Department of Multimedia, a descendant of Baek In-je, the founder of Seoul Baek Hospital, recently publicly expressed opposition to the Inje Foundation Board of Directors' decision to close Seoul Baek Hospital on the 3rd. Along with this, he met with Kang Cheol-won, Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul City Hall, and delivered a proposal to transform Seoul Baek Hospital into a 'Global K-Medical Hub.'

After the meeting with the Deputy Mayor, Professor Baek clearly stated to reporters that the closure of Seoul Baek Hospital was against his family’s wishes. He said, "The hospital’s founder, my great-grandfather (Baek In-je), and my father would not agree to close the hospital due to deficits."

He further argued to utilize the characteristics of Seoul Baek Hospital, which is adjacent to Myeongdong, a popular tourist area, and specialize it as a facility equipped with medical services for tourists, telemedicine, and an emergency center. Professor Baek said, "It is the optimal location to establish a K-medical service center such as health checkups for foreign tourists," and added, "I conveyed to Seoul City a plan to inherit the history of Seoul Baek Hospital, Korea’s first private medical corporation, and develop it into a K-Medical hospital."

On the 20th of last month, the Inje Foundation held a board meeting at Baek Hospital building in Jung-gu, Seoul, and passed the 'Seoul Baek Hospital closure plan' proposed by the management normalization task force (TF). Seoul Baek Hospital recorded a loss of 7.3 billion KRW in 2004 for the first time and has accumulated a deficit of 174.5 billion KRW to date.

Professors and hospital staff are opposing, claiming that the management excessively inflated losses aiming to convert the Baek Hospital site for commercial use. The industry estimates that if the Seoul Baek Hospital site is converted into commercial facilities, it could fetch about 200 billion KRW.

However, there are still many hurdles before Professor Baek’s proposal can become a reality. First, if Seoul Baek Hospital becomes a 'hospital exclusively for foreigners,' it would contradict the reason for opposing the closure claimed by Seoul City, which is 'resolving the local medical vacuum.'

Seoul City holds a firm stance that it will not allow the conversion of the Seoul Baek Hospital site to commercial use, citing medical service gaps related to the closure decision. Jung-gu Office in Seoul has finalized the 'Seoul Baek Hospital Urban Planning Facility (Comprehensive Medical Facility) Decision Draft' and has entered the relevant procedures. The district plans to conduct an urban planning facility decision service for basic status surveys and surrounding impact reviews, followed by public inspection for residents, consultation with the district urban planning committee, and submit the urban planning facility decision draft to Seoul City by November.

The presidential election of Inje University is also a key factor. Professor Baek has expressed his intention to run in the presidential election scheduled for August. The 'Global K-Medical Hub' conversion plan is only Professor Baek’s claim, and the Inje Foundation has not yet changed its position regarding the closure. Therefore, how the Inje Foundation’s stance will be settled depending on the election results is expected to be crucial.

Even those opposing the closure are taking a wait-and-see attitude since the proposal to convert Seoul Baek Hospital into a hospital exclusively for foreigners is still just an opinion. Lee Jun-tae, Secretary-General of the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Health and Medical Labor Union, said, "Various proposals are emerging, but nothing has been clearly decided," and added, "Our immediate goal is to prevent the closure of Seoul Baek Hospital, so we will continue various discussions."