# K-Medical Tourism Institute

> K-Medical Tourism Institute turns open data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute into tables and charts: hospitals registered for foreign patients by region, and the Medical Korea list of official websites. No hospital recommendations or referrals. Free in Korean and English.

## About the publisher

- Publisher: K-Medical Tourism Institute (https://k-medicals.org/en)
- Contact: info@k-medicals.org
- What this site is: A free information site that explains open data. No advertising, affiliate links, sign-up or fees. It is not a medical institution or a foreign patient facilitator, and it does not recommend hospitals or arrange treatment.
- The site runs no surveys of its own. Every figure comes from open data published by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute on the Korean Public Data Portal.
- Korean edition: https://k-medicals.org/

## Topic hubs

- [Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients](https://k-medicals.org/en/topics/registered-institutions): Korea had 2,023 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022, adding up its 17 regions, and Seoul accounted for 62.1%.
- [Medical Tourism in Korea by Region](https://k-medicals.org/en/topics/regional-medical-tourism): In 2022 Seoul had 1,257 registered medical institutions for foreign patients, followed by Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam with 228 and Daegu and Gyeongbuk with 178.
- [Official Medical Tourism Contacts in Korea](https://k-medicals.org/en/topics/official-contacts): Medical Korea lists 36 official medical tourism websites, and 32 of their addresses opened when checked on 5 Oct 2026.

## Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients

- [Korea Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-institutions-by-year): Korea had 2,023 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022, adding up its 17 regions.
- [Korea Medical Tourism Hospitals by Region](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-institutions-by-region): Of the 2,023 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in Korea in 2022, 1,257 (62.1%) were in Seoul, followed by Busan with 181 and Daegu with 163.

## Medical Tourism in Korea by Region

- [Seoul Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/seoul-medical-tourism-institutions): Seoul had 1,257 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022, which is 62.1% of the 2,023 nationwide.
- [Incheon and Gyeonggi Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/incheon-gyeonggi-medical-tourism-institutions): Incheon and Gyeonggi had 116 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022, 5.7% of the 2,023 nationwide: 104 in Incheon and 12 in Gyeonggi, where the figure had been 151 a year earlier.
- [Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/busan-ulsan-gyeongnam-medical-tourism-institutions): Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam had 228 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022, 11.3% of the 2,023 nationwide, and 181 of them were in Busan.
- [Daegu and Gyeongbuk Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/daegu-gyeongbuk-medical-tourism-institutions): Daegu and Gyeongbuk had 178 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022, 8.8% of the 2,023 nationwide and 82 more than the 96 recorded in 2021.
- [Gwangju and Jeolla Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/gwangju-jeolla-medical-tourism-institutions): In 2022, Gwangju and the two Jeolla provinces (Jeonbuk and Jeonnam) had 123 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients, 6.1% of the 2,023 nationwide, and 96 of them were in Gwangju.
- [Daejeon and Chungcheong Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/daejeon-chungcheong-medical-tourism-institutions): Daejeon, Sejong and the two Chungcheong provinces (Chungbuk and Chungnam) had 80 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022: 29 in Daejeon, 25 each in Chungbuk and Chungnam, and 1 in Sejong.
- [Gangwon and Jeju Medical Tourism](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/gangwon-jeju-medical-tourism-institutions): Gangwon and Jeju had 41 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients in 2022: 33 in Jeju and 8 in Gangwon.
- [Medical Tourism Offices in Korea by Region](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/regional-medical-tourism-offices): The Medical Korea list names 22 regional medical tourism offices in Korea, spread over 14 of the country's 17 regions, and has no entry for Gangwon, Jeju and Sejong.

## Official Medical Tourism Contacts in Korea

- [Official Medical Tourism Websites in Korea](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/official-medical-tourism-websites): The Medical Korea list of official medical tourism websites in Korea has 36 entries, and 32 of the listed addresses opened as written when checked on 5 Oct 2026.
- [Help for Foreign Patients in Korea](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-help-contacts): Help for foreign patients in Korea comes from the Medical Korea Information Center (+82-2-1577-7129), the Korea Medical dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (1670-2545) and a report center for illegal solicitation, and 5 more official sites cover interpretation, the tourist police and visas.

## Explainers

- [How to Read Korea's Foreign Patient Hospital Statistics](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/how-to-read-foreign-patient-institution-statistics): Korea's statistics on hospitals for foreign patients count, region by region, the medical institutions that have registered in order to attract foreign patients. They are a different statistic from patient numbers, and a national figure only exists once the 17 regions are added together.
- [Why Korea's Registered Hospitals Fell from 3,115 to 1,664 in 2017](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/why-registered-institutions-halved-in-2017): 2017 was the year every institution already registered to attract foreign patients had to renew that registration by June 22, and in that year the national count went from 3,115 to 1,664. The renewal was required by the addenda to an Act that took effect on June 23, 2016, and the health ministry said institutions with no patient results or no intention to renew were excluded.
- [Six in Ten Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients Are in Seoul](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/seoul-share-of-registered-institutions): In the 2022 statistics, 1,257 of Korea's 2,023 medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients were in Seoul, a share of 62.1%. From 2009, the first year in the source, to 2022, Seoul's share moved between 51.9% and 62.1%.
- [What Happened to Korea's Registered Hospitals During COVID-19?](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/registered-institutions-during-covid): Korea's national count of medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients fell 26.4%, from 2,051 in 2019 to 1,509 in 2020, and stood at 2,023 in 2022. The number of unique foreign patients announced by the health ministry fell 76.5% in 2020, so the two figures dropped by different margins.
- [How to Check if a Korean Hospital Is Registered for Foreign Patients](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/how-to-check-registered-institution): You can check whether a Korean hospital, clinic or facilitator is registered to attract foreign patients on Medical Korea's online search for registered institutions. Registration means the institution met the requirements set by law and registered with its city or provincial governor, and a registration is valid for three years from the registration date.
- [Which Official Korean Medical Tourism Office Should You Contact?](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/which-official-site-to-use): 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".

## Main pages

- [Korea Medical Tourism Data](https://k-medicals.org/en/data): All data pages built from the registered institution statistics and the list of official websites
- [Korea Medical Tourism Statistics Explained](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles): How to read the statistics, where the series breaks, and how to find the right official office
- [Korea Medical Tourism Glossary](https://k-medicals.org/en/glossary): What registered institution, facilitator, registration and related terms mean
- [Korea Medical Tourism FAQ](https://k-medicals.org/en/faq): Questions and answers on the statistics, registration and official contacts
- [About K-Medical Tourism Institute](https://k-medicals.org/en/about): Editorial policy, sources of data and photos, contact
- Feeds: https://k-medicals.org/en/rss.xml (RSS), https://k-medicals.org/en/feed.xml (Atom)
- Add /index.md to any page URL for a Markdown copy. Example: https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-institutions-by-year/index.md

## Data and reuse

- Main sources: KHIDI, "Medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients, by year and region" (data as of 31 Dec 2022) and "Medical Korea list of useful websites for medical tourism" (data as of 29 Aug 2023), on the Korean Public Data Portal with no restriction on reuse stated.
- Supplementary sources: the per-institution list as of 21 Jul 2026 (4,188 medical institutions and 2,733 facilitators) and the health ministry's yearly count of unique foreign patients.
- National totals, shares and changes are calculated by K-Medical Tourism Institute from the source values.
- Link status of official websites is the result of opening each address on 5 Oct 2026.
- When quoting, name the original source (Korea Health Industry Development Institute) and give the K-Medical Tourism Institute page address.

## Editorial conventions

- What the data confirms is kept apart from what it does not. Where the source gives no reason for a change, the text says so.
- The number of registered institutions is not the number of patients. The source does not define its figures.
- A national figure is the sum of the 17 regions. The 2022 total includes the source value of 12 for Gyeonggi.
- The 2022 statistics and the 2026 list are compiled differently and are never chained into a rate of change.
- Institutions and regions are not rated or recommended. No forecasts are made.
- The official name is "K-Medical Tourism Institute". It is not shortened or replaced with another name.

## Contact

- info@k-medicals.org