About K-Medical Tourism Institute

What does this site do?

It makes published medical tourism data easier to read. The statistics on institutions registered for foreign patients sit on the Korean Public Data Portal as a single file that is hard to find, has no national total and breaks sharply in some years, so quoting it as it stands is an easy way to get things wrong. K-Medical Tourism Institute splits that file into pages by year and by region and prints each figure with its reference date and limits.

It currently covers three topics: Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients, Medical Tourism in Korea by Region and Official Medical Tourism Contacts in Korea. Points that only show up when several data pages are read together are written up separately as explainers.

It is not a medical institution or a foreign patient facilitator. It does not recommend hospitals, give medical consultations or arrange treatment. There is no advertising, no affiliate links, no sign-up and no charge.

Where does the data come from?

The two main sources are files the Korea Health Industry Development Institute has published on the Korean Public Data Portal: Medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients, by year and region (data as of 31 Dec 2022) and the Medical Korea list of useful websites for medical tourism (data as of 29 Aug 2023).

Because the statistics stop at 2022, two further sources are used only to show later figures: the same institute's per-institution list as of 21 Jul 2026, and the yearly number of unique foreign patients (2009-2025) from a Ministry of Health and Welfare press release. Statements about the system go no further than the text of the law on the Korea Law Information Center and the guidance pages of each agency.

• Figures are printed as they appear in the source. They are not rounded or corrected.
• Values the source does not contain, such as national totals, shares and changes, are calculated and labelled as calculated in the table or the text.
• Addresses of official websites are opened by hand. The link status shown now is the result of the check on 5 Oct 2026.
• Only addresses that were actually opened, with title and date confirmed, are listed as sources.

What rules does the writing follow?

The conclusion comes first and the evidence follows. Each sentence keeps what the data confirms apart from what it does not.

• The single sentence at the top of a page is that page's conclusion.
• Where the source gives no reason for a change, the text says so. No reason is supplied by guesswork.
• A value far out of line with the years around it is printed as published, with a note. It is not declared an error.
• Sources compiled in different ways, such as the yearly statistics and the per-institution list, are shown side by side but never chained into a rate of change.
• Statistics that are easy to confuse, such as registered institutions and patients, are kept apart in every sentence.
• Institutions and regions are not rated. The effectiveness, safety and cost of treatment are not covered.

Pages are published under the name K-Medical Tourism Institute Editorial Desk. If you report an error it is checked and corrected, and the date of the correction is shown as the page's update date.

When is the site updated?

Whenever new source data is published. The Public Data Portal gives the update cycle of the two main files as "as needed (one-off data)", so there is no set date for the next edition. The link status of the official websites is rechecked every quarter.

The summary sentences, tables and charts on data pages are calculated from the source, so the numbers change when the source does. Explainers state their reference date under the title and are rewritten when a change in the figures changes the reading.

Can you quote the figures?

Yes. The Public Data Portal lists the scope of permitted use for both main files as "no restriction". When you quote a figure, name the original source, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. When you use a calculated value such as a total or a share, name K-Medical Tourism Institute as well, since it did the calculation.

K-Medical Tourism Institute does not redistribute the source files. If you need them, download them from the Public Data Portal addresses above.

Where do the photos come from?

The 4 photos on the home page are all pictures of real places uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication). They were cropped and resized, with no color changes and no text added. Photos whose subject is a person, and generated images, are not used.

• Han River and Lotte World Tower, Seoul, 2018 · mauveine.kim · CC0 1.0
• Seocho District from the Han River, Seoul, 2023 · SpaceshipMe · CC0 1.0
• Yongmeori Coast, Jeju, 2022 · Bernard Gagnon · CC0 1.0
• Seoul Plaza and Seoul City Hall, Seoul, 2018 · H. Y. Shin 000 · CC0 1.0

How can you get in touch?

Error reports, questions about the data and suggestions for data to cover are welcome by email. Requests for appointments or hospital referrals are not answered.

• Email info@k-medicals.org