Skin clinics top choice for foreign medical tourists in South Korea

Tourists stroll at Seouls shopping district of Myeong-dong in the capital on Aug 15 2025 Yonhap — Tourists stroll at Seoul's shopping district of Myeong-dong in the capital on Aug. 15, 2025. Yonhap

SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - More than half of foreign patients who visited South Korea last year visited skin clinics, medical statistics reveal.

According to a report by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) released on Thursday, of the 1.17 million foreigners who received medical treatments here last year, some 705,044 visited skin-related clinics, accounting for 56.6 percent, a whopping 117-fold increase from a mere 6,015 in 2009.

The next most frequent treatment was cosmetic surgery at 11.4 percent, followed by internal medicine (10 percent) and health check-ups (4.5 percent).

By nationality, the majority of foreign patients were Japanese (37.7 percent) and Chinese (22.3 percent), together accounting for about 60 percent. They were followed by Americans (8.7 percent), Taiwanese (7.1 percent), and Thais (3.3 percent).

Meanwhile, medical tourism continues to grow, with foreign patient numbers surpassing 1 million for the first time last year.

Out of some 7 million foreign visitors here during the first five months of this year, nearly 6 million or about 80 percent shopped at cosmetics retailer Olive Young, according to a straw poll last month amid the soaring popularity of South Korean beauty products overseas.

Kim Hee-su khs@ajunews.com