Medical tourists return to Korea as pandemic ebbs

A dermatologist treats patients from Mongolia at a medical center in Daegu, in this April 23, 2019 photo. Courtesy of Daegu Metropolitan City

By Lee Hyo-jin

The medical tourism industry was one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic as countries around the world imposed travel restrictions. But now, with borders opening up again, foreign nationals seeking medical treatment are coming back to Korea.

Medical tourism is an all-inclusive package inviting foreign patients to come here to receive treatment at medical institutions, during which they go sightseeing, shopping and experience Korean culture. The industry is considered a future growth engine because medical tourists spend about 10 times more money that ordinary tourists.

During the past decade, Korea has risen as a popular destination for foreign nationals with its advanced medical technologies and services, coupled with the global popularity of Korean culture.

However, since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in January 2020, restrictions on international travel and the entry of foreign nationals due to virus concerns have contributed heavily to the sharp decline of overseas patients.

According to data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), nearly 600,000 foreign patients entered Korea in 2019, but the number dropped to 134,000 in 2020. Although it marked a slight increase in 2021 with 180,000, there seemed to be little signs of recovery as the country grappled with another Omicron wave in early 2022.

But as the pandemic is currently relatively under control here, with approximately 30,000 new daily infections and the Korean government seeking to transition to an endemic phase, overseas patients are expected to return to local hospitals.

Although this year's total number hasn't been tallied yet, Seo Eun-hee, head of K-medical tourism association, a non-government organization launched in 2016, anticipates the figures could return to pre-pandemic levels in the near future.

"I expect businesses to be normalized soon, although we are still a little cautious due to the ongoing Russian war (with Ukraine), along with the continued lockdowns in China, both of which are our major target countries," she told The Korea Times.

Seo explained that the pandemic has had a devastating impact on agencies and facilitators inviting overseas patients.

"Out of 2,000 registered agencies, only 900 had survived by the end of 2020. Agency owners left to other sectors such as delivery services, where they barely made ends meet, while a lot of workers were fired due to the lack of financial support from the government," she said. "Many foreign employees working at these agencies had to leave the country after their visas expired because there was simply no work for them."

Strict laws needed to eradicate illegal brokers

A Medical Tourism Support Center in the arrivals area of Incheon International Airport / Yonhap

But Seo expressed concerns that illegal brokers, most of whom seem to have disappeared amid the pandemic, will thrive again.

Under the Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Healthcare System and Attraction of International Patients, only agencies registered at the Ministry of Health and Welfare are allowed to invite foreign patients and arrange treatments for them. The law also bars them from charging excessive fees.

However, unregistered brokers who rake in undue commissions by encouraging excessive medical tests and treatments to overseas patients have been widely pointed out as a problem in Korea's medical tourism industry.

"Now seems to be the best time for the government to establish strict laws and regulations so that illegal brokers will not come back again. The eradication of unlawful businesses will raise the competitiveness of Korea's medical tourism services in the post-COVID-19 era," said Seo.

She also viewed that the government should consider easing visa rules for patients who are in need of urgent treatment, saying, "I've seen many overseas patients choosing Singapore or Turkey instead of Korea due to complicated visa procedures here."

Moreover, there are growing calls that hospitals should actively expand services for treating chronically ill foreign patients and perform highly skilled surgeries.

Although it is a fact that plastic surgery and dermatology are the most sought after medical services by foreign patients, critics say Korea should focus more on attracting patients requiring long-term care and complicated surgeries in order to develop the medical tourism industry sustainably.

Between 2018 to 2021, the most visited medical department among foreign patients in Korea was the internal medicine department (20 percent), followed by plastic surgery (14 percent) and dermatology (13 percent), along with overall medical checkups (9 percent), according to data from the KHIDI submitted to Rep. Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party of Korea.

"The number of foreign patients is expected to increase after the pandemic situation is stabilized. But in the post-COVID-19 era, we should develop a business model centered on attracting overseas patients for treatment chronic illnesses, rather than excessively relying on cosmetic and aesthetic medical services," said the lawmaker.