321,000 foreign patients spent $569.8 million for treatment in Korea

A Russian patient gets treatment at a hospital in Seoul. Courtesy of Gangseo-gu district

By Park Si-soo

More foreigners are coming to Korea for medical treatment.

Last year, 321,574 foreigners from 190 countries visited here for treatment, up from 296,889 from 187 countries in 2015 and 211,218 from 191 countries in 2013.

They spent 640 billion won ($569.8 million), according to a Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) report

By gender, 62.9 percent of the patients were female.

Small-staffed hospitals and those offering Western and Oriental medicine together benefit a lot from the increase.

Nearly 30 percent were treated at small hospitals last year, up from 24.1 percent in 2015 and 22 percent in 2013. Those who visited hospitals offering Western-Oriental treatment soared 12.9 percent to 20,343, up from 18,011 in 2016.

“Since local hospitals were allowed to treat foreign patients in 2009, the influx of foreign patients has increased,” a KHIDI official said. “The government, public and private medical institutes are mapping out their own plans to attract foreign patients.”