# Which Official Korean Medical Tourism Office Should You Contact?

> The official office to contact for medical tourism in Korea depends on the situation: before you travel, Medical Korea's search for registered institutions and the immigration and visa sites; during your stay, the Medical Korea Information Center; and when something goes wrong, the Korea Medical dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency and the report center listed as "illicit solicitation of international patients report center".

The Medical Korea list published by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute has 36 websites. When K-Medical Tourism Institute opened each address on 5 Oct 2026, 32 opened, and the other 4 had a changed path, could not be verified automatically or did not respond.

- Written by: K-Medical Tourism Institute Editorial Desk
- Published: 5 Oct 2026
- Data as of: As checked on 5 Oct 2026
- Canonical URL: https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/which-official-site-to-use

## How are the official medical tourism offices in Korea divided by situation?

Into three: before you travel, while you are in Korea, and when something goes wrong. Each has different offices and different ways to reach them.

**Official medical tourism offices by situation** (source dated 29 Aug 2023)

| Situation | Office | Address or phone | Link check (5 Oct 2026) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Before travel: finding registered institutions and facilitators | Medical Korea information system for attracting foreign patients (run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute) | www.medicalkorea.or.kr/korp/main.do | Not in the list. Its page was opened and read on 5 Oct 2026 |
| Before travel: immigration and visas | Ministry of Justice Korea Immigration Service | [www.immigration.go.kr/immigration_eng/index.do](https://www.immigration.go.kr/immigration_eng/index.do) | Opens |
| Before travel: immigration and visas | Korea Visa Portal | [www.visa.go.kr/main/openMain.do](https://www.visa.go.kr/main/openMain.do) | Opens |
| During the stay: help by phone or in person | Medical Korea Information Center | +82-2-1577-7129 | Not in the list. Its page was opened and read on 5 Oct 2026 |
| During the stay: tourist help and interpretation | KNPA(Korea Tourist Police) | [police.go.kr/eng/main.do](https://police.go.kr/eng/main.do) | Could not verify automatically |
| During the stay: tourist help and interpretation | KTO (English, Japanese, Chinese) | [visitkorea.or.kr](https://visitkorea.or.kr) | Opens |
| During the stay: tourist help and interpretation | Bbb Korea (19 languages including English, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, etc.) | [www.bbbkorea.org/en](https://www.bbbkorea.org/en) | Opens |
| During the stay: local offices | 22 local governments and regional bodies | Listed in the data on regional offices | Opens: 21; No response: 1 |
| When something goes wrong: a dispute over a medical accident | Korea Medical dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency | [www.k-medi.or.kr/index.do](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/web/index.do) | Path changed (home page opens) |
| When something goes wrong: reporting unregistered solicitation | illicit solicitation of international patients report center | [www.kmediwatch.kr](https://www.kmediwatch.kr) | Opens |

Names and addresses are as written in the Medical Korea list. The information system and the Medical Korea Information Center are not separate entries among the 36 sites, so what is said about them comes from their own pages as opened and read on 5 Oct 2026. The full list, with names in four languages, is in [Official Medical Tourism Websites in Korea](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/official-medical-tourism-websites).

## Which official medical tourism offices do you use before you travel to Korea?

Registered institutions are searched on Medical Korea's information system for attracting foreign patients. For immigration and visas, the list gives 2 official sites: Ministry of Justice Korea Immigration Service and Korea Visa Portal.

The search screen is inside the Medical Korea site, run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, and works by business registration number or by name. The steps and the legal basis are in [How to Check if a Korean Hospital Is Registered for Foreign Patients](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/how-to-check-registered-institution).

K-Medical Tourism Institute could not confirm the types, conditions or periods of visas and does not state them. What is confirmed is only that these 2 sites are the official ones in the Medical Korea list.

## Which official medical tourism offices help while you are in Korea?

The Medical Korea Information Center. Its phone line, +82-2-1577-7129, runs every day from 09:00 to 18:00 (UTC+9).

**Medical Korea Information Center: phone line and desks** (center page as read on 5 Oct 2026)

| Contact point | Number or location | Hours |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Phone line (Medical Call) | +82-2-1577-7129 | Daily, 09:00 to 18:00 (UTC+9) |
| Seoul center | B2, Seoul Station Airport Railroad, 378 Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul | Daily, 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 center | Gate 7, 1F. Phone +82-32-743-3506, +82-32-743-3507 | Daily, 09:00 to 21:00 |

Supported languages are left out because the center page states them inconsistently.

The services on the center's page include consultation on entry and exit visas, information on medical institutions, support for reserving medical services, consultation on medical complaints and disputes with support for transfer to the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, and consultation on illegal brokerage.

Under "Tourist help and interpretation", the list has 3 entries: KNPA(Korea Tourist Police); KTO (English, Japanese, Chinese); Bbb Korea (19 languages including English, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, etc.). The 22 local governments and regional tourism bodies can be looked up region by region in [Medical Tourism Offices in Korea by Region](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/regional-medical-tourism-offices).

## Which official medical tourism offices handle a dispute or unregistered solicitation?

Disputes over a medical accident are mediated by the Korea Medical dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, and reports of unregistered solicitation go to the report center listed as "illicit solicitation of international patients report center".

**Medical dispute mediation and reporting unregistered solicitation compared** (agency pages as read on 5 Oct 2026)

| Item | Korea Medical dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency | illicit solicitation of international patients report center |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it handles | Mediation and arbitration of disputes over medical accidents | Solicitation by unregistered institutions; false information given by registered institutions |
| How to apply or report | Online, by post, by fax and other means | Online report form after signing up and logging in. Anonymous reports are not accepted |
| Handling | Within 90 days of the day mediation starts; one extension of up to 30 days | Reviewed, then passed to the local government with jurisdiction, which makes the final decision |
| Phone | 1670-2545 | 1577-7129 (Medical Korea Information Center) |
| Address in the source | [www.k-medi.or.kr/index.do](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/web/index.do) | [www.kmediwatch.kr](https://www.kmediwatch.kr) |
| Link check (5 Oct 2026) | Path changed (home page opens) | Opens |

Mediation applies to foreigners as well as Korean nationals. The handling period is within 90 days of the day mediation starts and can be extended once, by up to 30 days. The basic fee is 22,000 won when the amount claimed is 5 million won or less.

When a report comes in, it is reviewed and passed to the local government with jurisdiction, which decides whether there was a violation and on any administrative action. For both mediation and reports, the outcome is decided case by case by the body concerned, and K-Medical Tourism Institute does not predict or promise results. The procedures of the two offices continue in [Help for Foreign Patients in Korea](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-help-contacts).

## Do the websites of the official medical tourism offices actually open?

When the 36 addresses in the list were opened on 5 Oct 2026, 32 opened. Of the rest, 1 had a changed path, 1 could not be verified automatically and 2 did not respond.

**Official sites by category, with the 5 Oct 2026 link check** (number of sites)

| Category | Sites | Opens | Path changed (home page opens) | Could not verify automatically | No response |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Central government and public agencies | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Associations | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Immigration and visas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Local governments and regional bodies | 22 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Dispute mediation and reporting | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tourist help and interpretation | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 36 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 2 |

The categories are not in the source and were added for this table.

Of the 7 listed offices named in the situation table, 5 opened. The others were KNPA(Korea Tourist Police) ("Could not verify automatically"); Korea Medical dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency ("Path changed (home page opens)").

"Path changed (home page opens)" marks a site where the address in the source did not open and the link was pointed to the home page of the same site. "Could not verify automatically" means the server answered but the automated check did not reach the final page, and "No response" means the server could not be located or refused the connection that day. In every case only that day's result was checked, and whether a site has been shut down is not known.

## What should you keep in mind when using the list of official medical tourism offices?

The list is dated 29 Aug 2023, so department names and addresses may have changed since. Phone numbers and hours are as read on each office's page on 5 Oct 2026.

The source has no Korean names, and the Korean names in the Korean edition were rendered from the Japanese names. English names are printed as the source writes them, so some spellings and spacing differ from usual usage.

The list comes from "Medical Korea list of useful websites for medical tourism", published by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute on the Korean Public Data Portal. The source has no categories or regions; K-Medical Tourism Institute added them, and the link check is K-Medical Tourism Institute's own, made by opening each address.

K-Medical Tourism Institute does not recommend or refer hospitals. Its descriptions of the offices are taken from each agency's own page and are not a substitute for medical or legal advice.

## Frequently asked questions

### What happens if the hospital does not agree to mediation?

Mediation starts after the other party's willingness to take part is confirmed. If the case is dismissed because the other party does not agree, the fee is refunded in full. The agency states that mediation starts automatically, without that consent, when the medical accident caused death, unconsciousness for a month or longer, or a severe disability.

### What legal effect does a mediation or arbitration result have?

The agency's page states that a concluded mediation has the same effect as a settlement in court, and an arbitration award the same effect as a final judgment.

### Which official sites did not respond on 5 Oct 2026?

2 sites: Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (ncov.kdca.go.kr/en/); Gwangju Medical Tourism Support Center (www.mediwellgj.kr). Only the fact that the address did not open that day was checked, and whether a site has been shut down is not known.

### Who do you ask about administrative action or a reward after a report?

The local government with jurisdiction. The report center directs questions about administrative action and rewards there.

### Which regions have no local office in the list?

Gangwon, Jeju and Sejong. The source list has no entry for these 3 regions.

## Sources

- [KHIDI: Medical Korea list of useful websites for medical tourism (as of 29 Aug 2023, in Korean)](https://www.data.go.kr/data/15122019/fileData.do) - Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Korean Public Data Portal, 31 Aug 2023, data as of 29 Aug 2023, no restriction on reuse stated
- [Medical Korea: Medical Korea Information Center](https://www.medicalkorea.or.kr/en/convenient) - Korea Health Industry Development Institute (Medical Korea)
- [K-MEDI: how medical dispute mediation and arbitration work (in Korean)](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/web/lay1/S1T130C154/contents.do) - Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (K-MEDI)
- [K-MEDI: how to apply for mediation, with fees (in Korean)](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/web/lay1/S1T132C158/contents.do) - Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (K-MEDI)
- [Report center for illegal solicitation of foreign patients (in Korean)](https://www.medicalkorea.or.kr/kmediwatch) - Korea Health Industry Development Institute (Medical Korea)