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In 2024, around 1.2 million foreigners came to South Korea as medical tourists, recording its highest figure ever since. Heavily affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and travel restrictions, the number of international patients in South Korea dipped, but it recovered quickly, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 2023. 2024 was the first year it cracked the one million mark.

Medical tourist arrivals over the last decade

With the slogan “Medical Korea”, South Korea has been actively attracting foreign patients over the past decade. The total number of patients who visited Korea surpassed three million in 2021. Most patients chose South Korea for its advanced medical technology and services. A decade ago, patients from the U.S. and Japan accounted for half of the total foreign patients, but now the country distribution has diversified with the increasing numbers of visitors from Southeast Asian countries.

Medical tourism and 'Hallyu'

As the overall number of tourists visiting Korea has increased alongside the popularity of 'hallyu' content such as K-pop or K-dramas, Korean medical services are also increasing in popularity. It is noteworthy that the number of medical tourists from the Asian countries in which K-pop or K-dramas are very popular has been steadily increasing. The main medical reason for flying to South Korea among these patients was to access cosmetic procedures. Most of them visited the plastic surgery department or dermatology department, whereas the patients from the U.S. or Russia visited the internal medicine department or health checkup center.