KIMA has relocated its office to the Medical Korea Support Center at Seoul Station to create synergy through collaboration.

The Medical Korea Support Center has been relocated to Seoul Station, enhancing support for foreign patients visiting Korea.

With the goal of attracting one million foreign patients annually, the center aims to actively promote K-Medicine while serving as a comprehensive support hub offering services such as hospital reservations, interpretation, and reporting illegal solicitation activities.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) held an opening ceremony at Seoul Station on Tuesday to mark the relocation of the Medical Korea Support Center.

Since 2016, the MOHW and KHIDI have operated support centers in Seoul and Incheon, providing foreign patients with consultation, interpretation, and legal services. The previous Seoul center in Jongno-gu has now moved to a more accessible location at Seoul Station.
 

"We expect more foreign patients to visit the center conveniently at Seoul Station," KHIDI President Cha Soon-do said. "The foreign patient attraction business, which started in 2009, recently overcame the Covid-19 crisis, and we are now looking at an annual influx of one million foreign patients.”

The center will actively address their needs, including multilingual interpretation, medical disputes, and tackling illegal brokers to minimize dissatisfaction, Cha added.

The Seoul center was relocated to Seoul Station to provide more convenient access to Korean healthcare services for foreign patients.

“We will continue to support foreign patients throughout their entire healthcare journey to ensure they experience no inconvenience."

The newly relocated center serves as a one-stop hub for foreign patients, providing essential services such as medical institution guidance and reservation support, multilingual interpretation services in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, and the reporting of illegal solicitation activities.

Additionally, the center offers VAT refund guidance for cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures. The center also provides a one-stop service for medical disputes, supporting patients from consultation to filing with the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency.

Notably, KHIDI stressed that the center will introduce new services such as free luggage storage for foreign patients using local healthcare services and concierge services at Incheon Airport for certified medical institutions' patients.

 

"We have established free luggage storage for foreign patients visiting Korean hospitals, and at Incheon Airport, patients from certified institutions will be offered personalized assistance to reach their destinations conveniently," KHIDI Global Healthcare Business Bureau Andy Hong said.

Additionally, KHIDI is encouraging participation in the Korea Accreditation Program for Hospitals Serving Foreign Patients (KAHF).

Currently, 15 institutions hold this certification, which grants benefits such as electronic visa applications, exemption from financial proof requirements, and priority in government support programs. Certified institutions also receive funding for overseas promotions and operational loans.

During the event, two more institutions —Ain Hospital and Bundang Jesaeng Hospital— were given KAHF certification.

"We are running pilot programs through KAHF-certified institutions and incorporating feedback to improve the system," Hong said. "We hope more hospitals participate to create synergies and benefit from government support."

The MOHW also expressed high expectations for the new support center.

 

Meanwhile, after the event, KHIDI provided information about its upcoming Medical Korea 2025 scheduled for March 20-23, at COEX. Under the theme “AI-Based Personalized Healthcare Innovation and Global Healthcare Changes,” the event will feature 51 promotional booths, bringing together domestic medical institutions, agencies, catering companies, and hotels for business meetings and conferences.

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