Running Head: THE HEALTH TOURISM IN SOUTH KOREA 1

The Health Tourism in South Korea

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Introduction
South Korea is currently experiencing a period of rapid development in terms of trade,
industry, and commerce and has emerged one of the leading performers in all sectors in the
global economy. Tourists go to South Korea to experience its rich and diverse culture including
medical services. South Korea is a global leader in medical tourism. In the past the trends of
medical tourism used to be set by western countries; however, now, its Asian countries, led by
South Korea that are setting trends in medical tourism. South Korea provides a much cleaner and
safer environment for medical tourists than any other city in the western hemisphere. South
Korea provides the most educated and experienced doctors and medical support staff, modern or
state-of-the-art technology, and a flexible and cheap pricing regime. The medical industry is
supported by the continual investments by big chip companies, such as, LG, Samsung, and
Hyundai, which have buoyed by state-of-the-art innovations that are replicated the world over.
Now, the South Korean medical industry has grown to become equivalent to those of western
nations and has even taken a lead in some fields, such as cancer. The South Korean government
has identified the medical industry as its next growth frontier, and as a result, it is investing in the
industry. The South Koreas medical tourism is most popular with consumers from nations, such
as; USA, Mongolia, Russia, China, and Japan. This study examines the health tourism in South
Korea to gain a comprehensive comprehension of the industry. The analysis of this study will
give a managerial implication of the entire hospitality industry, which will offer future research
implication for the South Korean health tourism industry.

Literature Review

South Korea expects to attract about 998,000 medical tourists by 2022. South Korea is a
nation with limitless possibilities with progressive hospitals and clinics of the future, innovative
procedures, and super-computers for treatment. Additionally, Junio, Kim, and Lee, (2017)
indicates that one of the major attractive features of South Korea is that many hospitals are
privately owned and are adequately staffed by doctors and nurses with international
qualifications. Junio, Kim and Lee (2017) state that South Korea’s medical infrastructure in
hospitals and clinics are world-class standards. Similarly, this view is supported by Guiry and
Vequist (2015) who stated that medical facilities in South Korea have the latest medical
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equipment and technology. These features have positioned the country as a global leader in
medical tourism. The Bloomberg Innovation Index (2018) ranked South Korea as the most
innovative state for a third consecutive year (Jamrisko, Miller, and Lu, 2019). Consequently, the
South Korean government wants to use this recognition and achievement to boost medical
tourism. According to the information released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, South
Korea incurred $1 billion in marketing the nation as a medical tourism destination. South Korea
has a total of 1,707 registered hospitals and clinics and other 1,413 privately licensed businesses,
which carry out marketing activities to attract medical tourists (IMTJ, 2020). However, in spite
of these efforts, the marketing efforts of the South Korean government are not aggressive,
especially, in comparison to other industries, such as electronics and the shipping industries. The
lack of aggressive support is negatively affecting the medical tourism market. Aggressive
government support will give the industry a competitive advantage over other advanced markets
in the world.

Additionally, IMTJ (2020) stated that the South Korean government takes an organized
approach in marketing the country as a medical tourist destination. However, even though the
country largely focuses on cosmetic surgery, it has expanded into minor surgery, cancer
treatments, eye care, dental care, and medical check-ups. The findings by the Korea Tourism
Organization (KTO) (2017) survey South Korea was ranked as the third most preferred medical
tourism destination in the world after the United States and Germany respectively. Although
South Korea ranked highly, the findings showed the gap between South Korea and the second-
ranked country, Germany, is significant. While 39.5% of the respondents preferred South Korea,
52% preferred Germany, and another 52.8% prefer the United States respectively (KTO, 2017).
Similarly, McAuthur (2015) states that in spite of South Korea’s notable achievements in
medical tourism, it still lags behind major markets. The International Healthcare Rescue Center
(IHRC) 2016 Medical Tourism Index (MTI) overall ranking list South Korea as the 8th most
favored nation for medical tourism (IHRC, 2016). The MTI 2016 Index placed South Korea as
one of the leading destinations for medical tourism, third only to Singapore and India.
Additionally, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) 2017 survey found out that most medical
tourists compared Singapore with South Korea in making their destination decisions. The
International Healthcare Rescue Center (IHRC) MTI 2016 index places South Korea among the
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top 10 best destinations in the world. This favors South Korea, and the country should consider
improving its competitiveness as a medical tourist’s destination.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) 2017 survey shows that the largest portion or
34.6% of the respondents preferred South Korea as a tourism destination for hospitalization and
beauty care, followed by hospitalization-treatment, and outpatient beauty care respectively. The
survey found that about 7 out of 10 of the medical tourists used general Hospital’s. However, the
level of satisfaction with the South Korean medical services was 78.8%, which is ranked fourth
behind Germany (89.7%), Turkey (84.4%), and Singapore (81.1%). This shows that South Korea
needs to do more to improve consumer satisfaction levels. Similarly, Kim, Arcodia and Kim
(2019) stated that South Korea’s leading medical tourism source markets are Japan, Russia,
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and the United States. According to KTO (2017) close to 7,500
Vietnamese medical tourists visited South Korea in 2018, followed by Russia and China
respectively. The number of Russians rose by 66% in 2018, in spite of a 2% reduction of medical
tourists from China. Similarly, COTRI (2019) shows that South Korea has declined as a favored
destination for medical tourists. In fact, many destinations received a double-digit year-on-year
growth, except Indonesia, South Korea, and the United States.

Findings by Kim, Arcodia and Kim (2019) show that patients are attracted by many
reasons for visiting South Korea as medical tourists. According to Kyoung-Lee and Byung-Ro
(2019) medical tourists from the United States, UAE, and Japan are attracted by the affordability
of healthcare, in comparison with their home countries. The South Korean government supports
the notion of affordable health care and establishes prices for many medical procedures. The
South Korean government price regime helps tourists save up to 40% for their medical costs,
including accommodation and transport. According to Sandberg (2017), health care in South
Korea is extremely efficient and cheap, and this attracts many medical tourists. For example, in
South Korea, nose surgery costs around $4,000 to $6,000 while at the same time it costs about
$10,000 to $12,000 in the United States. Also, surgery to replace a heart valve costs about
$25,000 in South Korea while it costs only $200,000 in the United States.
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The cost comparison scales between South Korea and the USA, Thailand, India,
Singapore, and Malaysia shows that South Korea is a costlier destination than many nations in
Asia; however, it is cheaper than the United States by a huge margin (McAuthur, 2015).

Table 1. The table below displays the comparison of costs for selected surgeries. 

Procedure USA India Singapore Thailand Malaysia South Korea

Heart bypass $133,000 $7,000 $16,300 $22,000 $12,000

Heart valve $140,000 $9,500 $22,000 $25,000 $13,400 $42,000

replacement

Face lift $16,000 $4,800 $7,500 $5,000 $6,400 $6,600

Hip $57,000 $7,020 $1,200 $12,700 $7,500 $10,600

replacement

Lap gastric $52,000 $9,300 $16,500 $13,000 $12,700 $9,300

bypass

Additionally, Kim, Arcodia and Kim, (2019) show that medical tourists from
Kazakhstan, China, and Russia prefer South Korea because of its advanced technology and
modern medical procedures. The main hospitals and clinics have advanced medical technologies
from major tech companies, such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, which positions them as
leading in terms of patient care and treatment. All modern technologies, such as SPECT/CT
scanner, RapidArc Technology, 7T MRI, and Da Vinci robotic systems are available in South
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Korea (Kim, Arcodia and Kim, 2019). Also, South Korea has proven quality in medical services,
which is subject to the control and oversight of international and national organizations. About
55 South Korean medical centres have certification and accreditation from the local Health and
Welfare Ministry, which gives them approval to serve medical tourists. Another, 26 medical
centres have the Joint Commission International (JCI) certificate, which demonstrate that they
are a trustful medical services provider. Additionally, South Korean doctors undergo rigorous
training and development, as they have an educational base of about 10-12 years. The South
Korean doctors are subject to international internships during their training; hence, they have
both local and international certifications, which demonstrates their high-level skills. 

In 2018, South Korea was considered one of the top countries for clinical trials. It was
ranked 6th globally, in terms of the quality of clinical trials carried out in 2018. The country has
one of the largest research centers for biotechnology, pharmacy and medical technology.
Therefore, medical tourists have access to all medical innovations, which makes treatment easier.
These factors make the Korean republic as a destination of choice for medical services.
According to Choi, Kim and Lee (2018), the Korean republic has established a niche in the state-
of-the-art medical equipment; its major exports in medical technology are dental implants and
ultrasound scanning machines. However, Majeed and Lu (2017) state that “South Korea is far
behind” countries such as the United States of America and Germany in advanced medical
technology. The Korea’s republic share of the global health technology market is extremely low
when compared to advanced economies. South Korea’s government wants the country’s share of
the international medical technology market to increase from 1% to 5% by 2020 and was given
financial support and marketing help to this sector.

One of the South Korea’s key specialists’ areas is cancer treatment, orthopedics, and
checkups (Kim, Arcodia and Kim, 2019). South Korea shows remarkable results in cancer
treatment leaving far behind leading nations like Canada and the USA. The Five-Year success
rates in the most common cancers are over 90%. South Korea’s gastric cancer treatment is
renowned world over. The South Korean hospitals have a survival rate of 69.4% of gastric
cancers patients compared to Japan’s 63.3%, USA’s 27.7%, and Canada’s 25% (Kim, Arcodia
and Kim, 2019). South Korea is where the electrocauterization procedure was conceived. It is
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one of the most successful methods for removing harmful tissues and is replicated all over the
world. In South Korea, doctors use robots in surgeries, and proton and tomo- therapies to treat
the patients. Some of the widely known Korean hospitals such as Gachon University Gill
Medical Center have IBM Watson made supercomputers that use artificial intelligence to store
cancer-based data’s, which give doctors the most suitable treatment plan. Other hospitals, such as
Samsung Hospital has been developing its own system to make cancer treatment more accurate
and efficient (Guiry and Vequist, 2015). Medical tourists from Mongolia, Russia, USA, Vietnam,
China, Japan, and Canada visit South Korea to get their ischemic and congenital heart disorder
treatment (Junio, Kim and Lee, 2017). South Korea is leading in cardiac or cardiovascular
disease treatments in the world. The cardiovascular surgery treatment success score in Korea
republic is 99% a record anywhere in the world, with a year survival score of 93.5%, and a five-
year survival score of about 86% (Kim, Arcodia and Kim, 2019). South Korea is the first country
in the world where a heart transplant was carried out successfully. Since then, surgeons have
been developing new techniques for teaching cardiovascular diseases and this has made South
Korea one of the most sought-after cardiovascular treatment destinations for medical tourist.
Additionally, South Korean surgeons carry out over 2000 coronary artery surgeries annually, and
with a survival rate of over 98%. This is higher than that of the United States, which stands at
97.5% (Kim, Arcodia and Kim, 2019). 

In orthopedics, the Korean republic is recognized for its safe and minimally invasive
methods for treating the hip, knee, and ankle replacement, any joint or spine injury, bones
treatment, and muscles. For instance, the joint pains are minimized by 45% and the chances of
restoration of joint functions 39%. This is one of the leading success orthopedics surgery success
stories anywhere in the world. All orthopedics surgery manipulations are carried out under a
computerized treatment, which improves its accuracy and helps to get a 98% success rate (Kim,
Arcodia and Kim, 2019). South Korea is a world leader in scoliosis treatment with 95% success
rate. The country is one of the leaders in orthopedics clinical trials in the world, where they
discover new ways of treating patients and that’s this make it one of the best sought-after
locations for orthopedics patient (Junio, Kim and Lee, 2017). Additionally, the South Korean
surgeons closely cooperate with the US Western Pacific Orthopedic Association, International
Society of Orthopedics, Surgery and Traumatology, and Japan Orthopedic Association to find
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possible into Innovations in traumatology, orthopedics, and sports medicine. These

collaborations have helped Korean republic to be a global leader in orthopedics treatment.  

South Korea has an advanced medical tourism market that extends beyond its renowned
cosmetic surgery. The Korean republic government is encouraging medical facilities to set up
health services abroad. As a result, many medical facilities in Korea have established
international health centers; as of 2013, there were 111 hospital businesses in 19 nations around
the world including China, Mongolia, and the United States (Mundy, 2020). Meanwhile, the
country has set up special economic zones to attract foreign hospital operators, such as; Incheon,
Jeju, and Songdo. In spite of this, the experience of foreign investors operating in the
pharmaceutical sector is largely negative. The South Korea state-run Healthcare system is a
dominant in the insurance market, and unfortunately, it has exploited this situation to buy drugs
at the low prices, which is about 44% lower than the countries in the OECD (Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development) (Mundy, 2020). The Korea’s republic healthcare
system policy is based on keeping a fiscal balance, which stifles innovation and profitability, and
that is creates challenges for pharmaceutical companies. The fiscal balance policy reduces the
profit margins, and private companies are unable to effectively compete with the state-run
healthcare structure. Foreign pharmaceutical companies have been holding back from any new
drugs into South Korea, and this stifles the development of the industry (Mundy, 2020). The
South Korea pharmaceutical industry focuses on “generic drugs” - out-of-patent drugs. However,
South Korea is considered a leader in biosimilars, which are drugs developed from living
organisms, and this is considered our major area of investment as it enjoys extensive government
support.

Managerial Implications

The main reasons for medical tourism in the Korea republic are affordability, modern
technology, qualified staff, and accessibility. The Korea republic has one of the cheapest health
services, and this helps attract medical tourists who come to that country to seek higher-quality
treatment at reduced or lower cost (Kim, Arcodia and Kim, 2019). The ability of the Korea
republic to be competitive in the medical tourism industry is highly linked to its technology and
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affordability. In Korea republic, Medical tourists can save up about 40% of the total cost
including transport and accommodation to seek medical treatment. Additionally, the ability of
patients to access modern technology in the treatment of diseases such as cancer favors the
supports the country’s medical tourism ambitions. The Korea republic has a qualified medical
staff, which has helped to attract medical tourists. South Korea medical staff are some of the
most extensively trained and they have both local and international accreditation, and this makes
them highly suitable to treat patients from diverse cultural societies in the world (Junio, Kim and
Lee, 2017). The Korea republic is easily accessible, especially, its capital Seoul with flights
connecting to all parts of the world. The implication of this to the medical tourism world is
extensive. The ability of South Korea to offer patients what they cannot access or find in their
home countries makes it makes it one of the favorable destinations for hospitality. The ease of
access to modern treatment methods high qualified staff low cost of treatment analogies of the
environment has favorably positioned hospitality industry to get patient from abroad. Therefore,
the hospitality industry should consider ways of improving these factors to ensure that it
improves its overall ranking in medical tourism. 

The Korea republic is one of the safest destinations to travel and to seek medical services
(Junio, Kim and Lee, 2017). However, it faces extreme competition from other markets, such as
Singapore, particularly in terms of costs. Although South Korea offers costs savings to medical
tourists, its costs are some of the highest in the Asian region, especially, when compared to
Singapore, India, Malaysia, and Thailand. As a result, it is important to consider how to further
enhance competitiveness by reducing the costs of medical services. However, South Korea has
one of the highest success rates in treating patients, especially, in deadly diseases, such as
cancers. Hence, the country can position itself as a medical tourists’ destinations of choice as
patients are guaranteed high standards of care at reduced prices. This will help elevate the
country’s hospitality industry, as it will focus on giving high standards of care for patients. A
majority of the tourists seeks advanced technology in selecting their medical services, and this
favor’s South Korea than many countries in the advanced world (Junio, Kim and Lee, 2017). In
this case, South Korea should seek to aggressively market medical tourism, just like the
electronic industry to make it the next sphere of development for the country. 
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Future Research Implications

The study explored the key factors that favor health tourism in South Korea. Overall, the
medical tourism in Korea republic has gained a competitive advantage among many destinations
in the world. The increased familiarity with South Korea has had a major impact in improving
medical tourism, especially, for cancer treatments. The finding of this study shows that South
Korea is a favored destination among foreigners for medical tourism. However, in terms of
competitiveness, the country still lags behind some of the most favored destination in the world
including Germany India and Singapore. A comparative study must be carried out between South
Korea major competitors to establish the factors that affect or undermine its competitiveness.
This analysis is essential as it will help identify Korea’s internal and external strengths, and then
compare it with its main competitors. It will highlight Korea’s strengths, weakness, and help
identify opportunities for improvement. This will help determine where South Korea needs to
improve as a country or its health industry competitiveness.

This study focused on South Korea as a medical destination and did not consider
consumers implications of using the country for its medical services. Therefore, these findings
do not represent a holistic picture of the entire medical tourism industry. In spite of this, the
findings of this study show that the consumer satisfaction levels in Korea republic medical
tourism is low, and thus, a further in-depth study can be carried out to establish the effect of this,
and what must be done to improve satisfaction levels. The consumer satisfaction levels are
necessary to ensure the sustainability of medical tourism in South Korea, it can affect future
decision of consumers to choose it as a medical tourism destination. Additionally, a study on
South Koreas fiscal pricing policy, especially, on the pharmaceutical industry will help give a
complete picture of the industry, and how it influences medical tourism. The study will help give
an overview on how to suitably balance pricing and enhance innovation in the industry. 

The South Korean medical tourism industry is one of the best in the world, and continual
investments must be made on the industry, in line with recommendations from well-known and
peer-reviewed studies to enhance its competitiveness. Therefore, the country must take an
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aggressive approach to enhance its health hospitality industry to position it as the medical
tourists’ destination of choice.
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