'I came for tourism and left with a polyp removed': Foreign visitors flock to Korea for health checkups

"The moment I arrived in Seoul, I went straight to a hospital instead of sightseeing."

Liping Chao, visiting Korea from Los Angeles, skipped Namsan Tower and Myeong-dong and headed first to a health screening center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. She completed a comprehensive checkup — including blood tests, an ultrasound and an endoscopy — in three hours, then met a friend in Seongsu-dong and had dinner in Gangnam.

A growing number of foreign tourists are building health checkups into their Korea itineraries, as Korean medicine follows the popular cosmetics industry in emerging as a new draw for visitors.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, about 2.01 million foreign patients visited Korea last year, a 71.7 percent increase from the previous year. Visitors seeking Korean medical services are rising not only from China and Japan but also from Taiwan and the United States.

Medical tourism operators say Korean healthcare has established itself as a full-fledged export industry.

The biggest draws for foreign visitors are price and speed.

Tests that require specialist referrals, insurance approvals and long waiting periods in the United States or Hong Kong can typically be completed in a single day in Korea.

Seoul-based travel platform Creatrip said the cost of a single MRI scan in the United States often covers a full-body comprehensive checkup in Korea, adding that the total — including airfare — is frequently still cheaper than getting the same tests done at home.

Rebecca Gladstone, a Korean American living in New York, received a women's comprehensive checkup for about 750,000 won ($526). Heather Barlow, a Hong Kong resident, said a comparable checkup would cost three to four times more locally and chose to travel to Korea instead.

Korea's screening system is also cited as a competitive advantage.

Health screening centers can complete dozens of tests — blood work, X-rays, ultrasounds, electrocardiograms, and gastric and colorectal endoscopies — in half a day.

Barlow started her checkup at 8:30 a.m. and finished around 1 p.m. "The longest I waited was about 15 minutes," she said. "Everything was fast and organized, but I never felt rushed."

Chao received a checkup that included blood tests, a chest X-ray, an ultrasound and a gastric endoscopy for about 460,000 won. Doctors discovered and removed a stomach polyp during the exam, yet she said the staff "were very kind to foreigners and the whole experience was comfortable."

Medical institutions are also expanding English-language services to meet rising demand from foreign patients.

Seoul National University Hospital and the Korea Medical Institute, among others, offer checkups and results consultations in English, while medical concierge companies provide interpretation and booking assistance.

Test results are typically delivered by email within one to two weeks. When abnormalities are found, facilities can refer patients to major domestic hospitals or provide English-language result reports that patients can share with their doctors back home.

Korea's appeal goes beyond price alone.

South Korea ranked second globally in the 2025 CEOWORLD Healthcare Index, and its preventive health screening culture is widely regarded as well established. The system's ability to detect diseases early and connect patients quickly to follow-up care has earned strong trust among foreign visitors.

The medical tourism industry expects the number of foreigners coming to Korea for health checkups to keep growing. A travel pattern known as "medical tourism" — getting a checkup, then exploring Seongsu-dong or Myeong-dong, and rounding out the trip with dermatology or cosmetic procedures — is taking shape as a new standard Korea itinerary.