How were Seoul’s 19 medical-friendly accommodations selected?

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization chose 19 facilities from 40 applicants in the program’s first year. Selection included document reviews, on-site inspections and expert evaluations of factors such as medical access, long stays, amenities and emergency response.

What services do Seoul’s medical-friendly hotels offer foreign patients?

The selected accommodations include dedicated floors and lounges for medical tourists, free laundry service, and pickup and drop-off service. They also provide emergency guidance in several languages, while the city plans to train staff to handle foreign patients and emergencies.

How many foreign patients were treated in Seoul in 2025, and what share of Korea’s total did the city receive?

About 1.76 million foreign patients were treated at medical institutions in Seoul in 2025, a record high and 3.7 times the roughly 470,000 in 2023. Seoul accounted for 87.2 percent of the roughly 2.01 million foreign patients treated nationwide that year.

Seoul names 19 'medical-friendly' hotels for foreign patients

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Summary

Seoul designated 19 hotels and other accommodations as medical-friendly lodgings for international patients and their families on Monday. The city and the Seoul Tourism Organization selected the facilities from 40 applicants after document reviews, site inspections and expert evaluations. The program responds to patients’ needs for longer stays, recovery support and emergency assistance. The designation is valid for 2027, and the city will promote the facilities and train their staff.

Key Facts

About 1.76 million foreign patients received treatment at medical institutions in Seoul in 2025, 3.7 times the roughly 470,000 recorded in 2023.
Seoul accounted for 87.2 percent of the roughly 2.01 million foreign patients treated nationwide in 2025.
Evaluators considered access to medical institutions, long-stay options, cooking and laundry amenities, and round-the-clock emergency response.
Selected facilities offer services including dedicated medical-tourism floors and lounges, free laundry, pickup and drop-off, and emergency guidance in several languages.
The city plans to promote the facilities in several languages on its medical tourism website and share their details with partner hospitals and patient referral agencies.

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Published Nov 2, 2026 4:15 pm KST

Seoul has designated 19 hotels and accommodations as “medical-friendly” lodgings tailored for international patients and their families, part of an effort to capture a growing global market traveling to Korea for health care, the city government said Monday.

According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, about 1.76 million foreign patients were treated at medical institutions in Seoul in 2025, a record high. That is 3.7 times the roughly 470,000 in 2023. Seoul accounted for 87.2 percent of the roughly 2.01 million foreign patients treated nationwide last year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization chose the 19 facilities from 40 applicants in the program’s first year. The selection involved document reviews, on-site inspections and expert evaluations.

Unlike regular tourists, foreign patients often need long stays that follow their treatment schedules, rooms for family members or caregivers, and places to recover after surgery or other procedures. Some have trouble getting around after treatment.

The facilities were judged on how easy it is to reach medical institutions from them, whether they allow long stays, whether they have amenities such as cooking and laundry facilities, and whether they can respond to emergencies around the clock.

The selected facilities include dedicated floors and lounges for medical tourists, free laundry service, pickup and drop-off service, and emergency guidance in several languages. The city said it chose lodging of different types and price levels across Seoul’s districts to give patients more choice.

The designation is valid for 2027. The city will promote the facilities in several languages on its official medical tourism website and share their details with partner hospitals and patient referral agencies. It will also train staff on how to handle foreign patients and emergencies.

“The competitiveness of medical tourism depends not only on excellent medical services but also on how comfortably and safely foreign patients and their families can stay before and after treatment,” said Cho Sung-ho, director general of the city’s tourism and sports bureau.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

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