It looks as if more foreigners will come to Korea to receive medical treatment, as the government has decided to allow local hospitals to attract international patients on their own in medical tourism promotion drives.

According to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, local hospitals and clinics will be able to advertise and work with travel agencies and the like to attract potential patients from abroad to seek a host of medical procedures in Korea starting Friday (May 1).

However, hospitals and clinics will be banned from attracting patients in cooperation with insurance companies.

This revision in medical-related law seeks to promote Korea as a destination for medical tourism.

In addition, the new policy is designed to help decrease the 65 billion won (US$48.1 million) deficit that the country's medical service sector posts every year, and to eventually boost competitiveness of local hospitals, since they will have to raise the quality of their treatment in order to survive more fierce competition in the future.

For the time being, only five percent of all beds at hospitals that receive foreign patients will be set aside for them to see whether the new measure really works. 

There has been a steady increase in the number of people coming to Korea to receive general medical checkups and dental care, as it is relatively cheaper here than in some Western countries and Japan, even though Korea boasts advanced medical services.

By Han Aran
Korea.net Staff Writer