Court Rules "Domestic First For-Profit Hospital" Green International Hospital's Restriction on Treating Korean Patients Illegal

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The court ruled that Jeju Province's measure to grant conditional approval for the opening of the country's first for-profit hospital, Green Land International Hospital, restricting treatment for domestic patients, was illegal.

The Jeju District Court Administrative Division 1 (Chief Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-sook) ruled in favor of the plaintiff on the 5th in the lawsuit filed by Green Land Jeju Healthcare Town Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China's Green Land Group (hereinafter Green Land Jeju), against Jeju Province, seeking cancellation of the conditions for the approval of opening a foreign medical institution.

Green Land Jeju invested 80 billion KRW in the Jeju Healthcare Town site to build Green Land Hospital and applied for approval to open a foreign medical institution to Jeju Province in August 2017. Jeju Province, amid controversy over the "opening of the country's first for-profit hospital," granted conditional approval on December 5, 2018, allowing Green Land Hospital to operate only for foreign medical tourists, excluding domestic patients.

In response, Green Land Jeju filed a lawsuit in February 2019 seeking cancellation of the restriction on treatment for domestic patients instead of opening the hospital. However, Jeju Province, claiming that Green Land Jeju violated medical law regulations by not opening the hospital three months after the conditional approval, canceled the hospital opening approval in April 2019 after a hearing process.

After the cancellation of the opening approval, Green Land Jeju filed a lawsuit against the province in May of the same year seeking cancellation of the cancellation of the approval for opening a foreign medical institution, and finally won at the Supreme Court on January 13.

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