Waiting in Line for 'Medical Tourism' to Korea...

Foreign Patients Turning to Other Countries Due to Guardian 'Medical Tourism Visa' Rejections
K-Medical Tourism Association "Korea Rated World's Best... Now Is the Growth Opportunity"
"Guardians' Entry as Crucial as Patients'"

In December 2019, Haifa (33, right) and her mother (in their 50s) posed together after receiving medical treatment at a health checkup center during their visit to Korea. Haifa is active as an influencer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. [Photo by Haimedi]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] #Shinbayar, a man in his 20s from Mongolia suffering from sickle cell anemia, applied for a visa at the local Korean embassy to receive treatment in Korea after his condition worsened despite undergoing surgery locally. However, he has been unable to come to Korea as the issuance of a guardian visa has been repeatedly denied. Shinbayar appealed, "My symptoms have worsened to the point where I suddenly faint, and I cannot go to Korea alone without a guardian," adding, "I have been waiting for five months with a sick body. I hope they will issue a visa for my guardian soon."

#Abir, a woman in her 40s from the United Arab Emirates suffering from a brain tumor, also needs to return to Korea for follow-up treatment but is waiting because a guardian visa has not been issued.

The medical tourism industry has been severely impacted by COVID-19, but a solution remains elusive. Korea is known to have world-class medical infrastructure, and many severely ill foreign patients line up to receive treatment here. However, the government is hardly issuing medical tourism visas (C-3-3) to anyone other than the patients themselves, citing the serious spread of COVID-19.

Before COVID-19, guardians entered Korea with general tourist visas (C-3-9), but since the second half of 2020, under the quarantine regulations of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, guardians cannot enter without a medical tourism visa. Therefore, while patients seeking treatment are issued visas, guardians are only granted visas if the patient is so severely ill that they cannot move independently.

Medical Tourists Reduced to One-Quarter... Severe Contraction of Related Industries

According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the number of medical tourists visiting Korea reached 500,000 in 2019, up from 380,000 in 2018, but dropped sharply to 117,000 in 2020 when COVID-19 infections surged, and further to 131,000 last year. This is a decline to about one-quarter of the peak season in 2019 before COVID-19.

The industry expected some recovery this year, but the rapid increase in confirmed cases due to the spread of Omicron has prevented improvement. As guardian visas are not issued, more patients are giving up on traveling to Korea. In December last year, Tolga (Mongolia, 17), who requested a visa to visit Korea after a telemedicine consultation with a Korean doctor for brain tumor treatment, gave up on coming to Korea when his guardian visa was denied and changed his destination to Turkey, which allows visa-free entry.

The Health Industry Development Institute estimated Korea’s medical tourism revenue at about 1.1 trillion KRW in 2019 before COVID-19. The industry estimates that this figure only includes medical fees, and when accommodation and travel-related income are included, it could reach 2 trillion KRW.

The medical tourists who spend the most during their stay in Korea are nationals from Middle Eastern oil-producing countries. In 2019, medical tourists from 18 Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar typically stayed for 50 days with four family members, spending an average of 23 million KRW per person. This means a family spent about 92 million KRW in Korea. Some patients paid as much as 560 million KRW in medical fees, and the number of patients who paid over 100 million KRW exceeded 450.

In the same year, the international medical tourism media outlet "Patients Beyond Borders" estimated the global medical tourism market at 100 trillion KRW. Korea’s medical tourism industry is still in its early stages. Seo Eun-hee, president of the K-Medical Tourism Association, emphasized, "Despite difficult circumstances, Korea is receiving top evaluations in the global medical tourism market," adding, "If we do not grow now while the market is favorable and foreign patients are interested, we will not be able to create such opportunities again."

In December 2021, Mongolian doctor Utguntsetseg (35, left) visited Korea for his mother's surgery and is sightseeing in Seoul after his mother successfully completed the surgery.
[Photo by HiMedi]

Reasons for Choosing Korea

According to the K-Medical Tourism Association, Korean doctors’ surgical skills and state-of-the-art medical equipment are recognized as the best in the world. Additionally, convenient accommodations and stable public safety rank among the top urban infrastructures, and medical fees such as surgery costs are affordable. Compared to advanced medical countries like the United States and Japan, as well as other Asian countries, Korea’s medical fees are cheaper.

In Mongolia, where many medical tourists come from, brain tumor surgery costs about 45 million KRW and requires a craniotomy, which carries high risks. However, in Korea, Gamma Knife treatment can be performed without craniotomy, and the cost is only about 10 million KRW, according to the association. Competitors like Singapore and Turkey have very few facilities capable of Gamma Knife treatment, and their costs are known to be more than twice as high as Korea’s.

Since Korea’s medical infrastructure became widely known in the global market around 2010, the number of medical tourists choosing Korea as their final destination has surged. Especially, 90% of medical tourists from Middle Eastern countries, known as major spenders who receive full government support for treatment and living expenses for patients, guardians, and one caregiver, choose Korea, according to the industry.

A representative from the foreign patient attraction platform HiMedi said, "Although the number of medical tourists coming to Korea sharply declined after COVID-19 quarantine measures were strengthened, we expect the numbers to increase again this year," adding, "Spinal patients who have difficulty moving are denied guardian visas because they are not considered severe cases, but guardians also have an urgent need to enter the country, which should be considered during visa screening."

Regarding this, a spokesperson from the Central Disease Control Headquarters Crisis Communication Team said, "Quarantine measures such as self-quarantine exemptions for overseas arrivals are being gradually eased," adding, "While we cannot give a definite answer about visa issues, we expect to discuss this matter in regular meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

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