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SEOUL : Many South Korean pop stars and actors have gained popularity, mainly across Asia, for their looks. And that is why for several years now, foreigners have started to flock to South Korea to get plastic surgery.
The South Korean government is now eager to pursue this further, and wants a piece of the huge medical tourism pie.
A hospital located in Myeongdong, a popular shopping area among Koreans and foreigners visiting Seoul, specialises in plastic surgery.
Most of the patients are Koreans but in recent years, there has been an increase in foreigners - mainly from nearby Japan - coming here to receive treatment.
Ryu Ji Ho, head, Clinic Arumdaumnara, said: "I believe that the popularity of Korean pop stars overseas have contributed to bringing in foreigners to Korean institutions, especially those (specialising) in facial and plastic surgery."
That may be why foreigners started to come to South Korea in the beginning. But these days, many are believed to be coming here for more than plastic surgery.
And now South Korea wants to catch up with the other Asian countries like Singapore, India, Thailand and Malaysia. The South Korean government said medical tourism has been designated as one of the country's growth engines in the next five years.
And early this year, it passed a new law allowing Korean general hospitals and medical institutions to market medical tourism. Before that, it was illegal for hospitals to promote themselves to attract foreign patients.
Jeon Jae Hee, Minister for Health and Welfare, said: "Even when it was not legalised last year, about 25,000 foreigners came to receive treatment. Those who came were very happy with the results and more are coming by word of mouth."
This year's target is 40,000 foreign patients.
Apart from the health ministry, communities and districts have also jumped in.
A local government district Kangnam-gu has started working with tourist agencies to bring in foreigners into Kangnam, famous for high-end shopping and plastic surgeons.
Park Kyung Ho, head, Medical and Pharmaceutical Division, Kangnam-gu, said: "The number of tourists coming in is not increasing. To be frank, when foreign tourists come to our country, we lack places they can visit.
"And so, I believe that we need medical tourism. We need to come up with tourism packages to promote medical tourism. I think the way to increase the number of tourists is by medical tourism."
But critics said there are still many obstacles to overcome. Questions remain about issues such as visa requirements and possible communication problems - since Koreans are not English-speaking people.
Right now, the answers are vague, so solutions will have to be found before South Korea jumps in for a piece of that booming business. - CNA/ms
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