한국 찾는 외국인 환자 지속 증가…정부차원 통합서비스 제공
South Korea's high-tech and affordable healthcare is attracting more foreign patients to the country.
And to make the most of this trend, the government has established medical information centers to try and attract more medical tourism from overseas.
Our Seo Eun-kyung reports.
More and more people from overseas are coming to South Korea for medical care and services, but many don't know where to turn to find affordable, quality care.
As a result,... the South Korean government has established information centers to help them out.
Located in the heart of Seoul, the Medical Korea Information Center provides foreign visitors with information on medical institutions throughout the country.
There's also a legal assistant who can help with medical disputes in five different languages -- English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Arabic.
"We mostly get Russian and Chinese visitors coming by. Russian patients want information on hospitals that can treat serious medical issues. Most of the Chinese come for consultations on cosmetic procedures."
Foreign patients come to South Korea to benefit from medical technologies that may not be available in their home countries.
For example, health services related to obstetrics and gynecology are highly sought out by Russian visitors.
Since it's harder to find treatment in Russia for infertility, Russians come to South Korea to increase their chance of starting a family.
"We get people from many different countries, but mainly Russia, China and the U.S. There's a lot of demand for fertility tests, in vitro fertilization and for freezing eggs."
Given the quality of treatment and the reasonable cost, the medical tourism industry in South Korea has seen exponential growth in recent years.
In 2009,... the number of foreign patients coming to South Korea was a mere 60-thousand.
Within the space of a decade that figure has jumped more than five-fold to over 320-thousand and it appears more and more people from around the world will keep coming.
To make things even more convenient,... the medical center opened a branch at Incheon International Airport a couple of months ago.
It allows foreign guests to get the medical information they need without even having to leave the airport.
Seo Eun-kyung, Arirang News
