SEOUL: Medical tourists to South Korea will be allowed to receive telemedicine services starting next year, after patient numbers topped two million for the first time in 2025.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday (May 26) that a revised law on supporting Korean medical services’ overseas expansion and attracting medical tourists had been promulgated. The law will take effect in one year.
Under the revision, doctors, dentists and Korean medicine doctors affiliated with medical institutions registered for medical tourism will be allowed to provide remote consultations, education, diagnosis and prescriptions using information and communications technology.
The services will be available at clinics and hospitals for first-time consultations and follow-up care.
Registered medical tourism institutions will also be allowed to establish support systems for remote treatment and drug prescriptions, or outsource such systems to designated organizations. Institutions that violate procedures or methods for telemedicine may have their registration cancelled.
The revised law also expands the reporting requirement for overseas medical tourism expansion projects from operators of medical institutions to nonprofit corporations and companies under the Commercial Act.
The ministry said the change reflects the growing role of hospital management support organizations and other entities in overseas medical expansion.
It also provides a legal basis for annual surveys on overseas medical expansion and tourist d,raw with the results to be used in drawing up government plans.
According to the ministry, the number of medical tourists who visited South Korea reached 2,011,822 last year, surpassing two million for the first time since related statistics began in 2009. - The Korea Herald/ANN
