More than 90% of foreign patients visiting South Korea are concentrated in the metropolitan area, highlighting the need for measures to distribute the demand for high-value medical tourism across regions.
During a national audit session of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on October 14, Jung Yeon-wook, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, addressed the severe concentration of foreign medical tourists in the metropolitan area and urged for national support to activate medical tourism special zones in various regions.
According to data presented by Jung, medical tourism is a highly profitable sector. The average spending per medical tourist is approximately 6.73 million won, which is 3.8 times that of regular tourists, who spend around 1.78 million won. The average length of stay for medical tourists is also longer, at 7.2 days compared to 6.5 days for regular tourists.
From 2023 to 2025, while spending on accommodation (from $439.1 to $361.0), dining (from $251.4 to $209.0), and shopping (from $453.3 to $422.6) decreased for foreign visitors, spending on medical treatments and health check-ups increased by 30.8%, from $46.8 to $61.2.
Despite its high value, the distribution of foreign patients is heavily skewed towards the metropolitan area. As of 2025, 87.2% (1,755,002) of foreign patients were in Seoul, with the entire metropolitan area accounting for 91.2%. The top five regions (Seoul, Busan, Gyeonggi, Jeju, and Incheon) captured 97.3% of the total, while the bottom 12 non-metropolitan provinces combined attracted only 2.7% (53,345 patients).
Amid this imbalance, Busan has shown notable growth. Last year, Busan attracted 75,879 foreign patients, a 151.5% increase from the previous year, ranking second nationwide.
Jung noted, "This is a result of Busan's efforts, with the city investing 2.4 billion won from its own budget. The Korea Tourism Organization, which has provided no support for individual local government projects, must take policy action to distribute medical tourism across regions."
He added, "The era of simply increasing the number of tourists is over. The focus should be on creating an environment where visitors stay longer, spend more, and return. Medical tourism can be part of that solution, but it is currently concentrated in a few hospitals in the metropolitan area. We need specific solutions like regional medical tourism special zones."
In response, Park Seong-hyeok, president of the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, "We are making efforts to distribute the demand for medical tourism, which is currently concentrated in Seoul, to local areas, with Busan being a key focus."
He added, "While local governments are certainly making efforts, we are also working to connect cruise passengers with medical services in the Seomyeon area, encouraging them to seek treatments or surgeries there upon disembarking."
Additionally, plans are underway to ensure that cruise crew members can also access medical and beauty services.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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