130,000 Foreign Patients Visited Gangnam-gu in 2019... Ranked No.1 Nationwide

26.4% Nationwide, 41.1% in Seoul... Is Reaching 150,000 by 2022 Possible?

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) attracted 131,808 foreign patients in 2019, a 38.4% increase compared to the previous year, ranking first nationwide and establishing itself as a representative medical tourism city in South Korea.

According to the '2019 Foreign Patient Attraction Performance' recently announced by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Gangnam-gu accounted for 26.4% of the total national attraction performance (497,464 people) and 41.1% of the total foreign patients in Seoul (320,284 people).

By country, the numbers were China 53,720 (40.8%), Japan 29,367 (22.3%), and the United States 12,305 (9.3%), in that order.

In terms of medical fields, 'Plastic Surgery & Dermatology' (63.9%) was the highest, followed by Internal Medicine (10.2%), Korean Medicine (7.1%), and Health Checkups (4.1%). The growth rate of visitors was highest from Japan (100.8%, from 14,624 to 29,367), followed by Thailand (40.6%) and China (39.4%).

Gangnam-gu is aiming to reach 150,000 medical tourists by 2022 and is developing a medical tourism specialized street called 'Medical Street' in an area densely populated with 330 medical institutions, including plastic surgery clinics (from Apgujeong Station to Eulji Hospital Intersection). To establish an untact medical tourism environment, it plans to hold the 'Online Gangnam MediTour Expo' this September.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.