Medical Korea 2023 kicked off on Thursday designating Super Junior’s Kim Ryeowook as the Medical Charity Honorary Ambassador to promote Korea’s medical tourism at COEX.

“I am honoured to get this appointment to spread this cause and raise awareness of Koreas medical services,” said Kim of the K-pop idol group.“I wish everyone a healthy and happy life and hope I can help deliver the medical services needed for those across the globe.”

This is the 13th instalment of the event which is hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and organized by KHIDI. 

The event will run for two days and will host discussions on endemics, digital healthcare, integrated health data and management through MyData and recovery of medical tourism among others.

On the side-line of the event, there will also be business meetings with 171 companies from 21 countries and contract signing ceremonies for patient transfer and medical device export from overseas companies.

KHIDI President Cha Soon-do delivered the opening remarks saying, “With digital transformation occurring so quickly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to focus Medical Korea 2023 particularly on delivering the message of digital transformation.”

He continued, “Our goal is to restore medical tourism to pre-pandemic levels and expand medical services overseas to generate more added value for health care industry with public private partnerships.”

In this regard, the MOHW will also conduct government to government (G2G) meetings with Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and other countries to discuss mutual healthcare collaborations, he said.

Meanwhile, MOHW Vice Minister Park Min-Soo highlighted the progress Korea has made in a short period with high health indicators among OECD including life expectancy, five-year survival rate of cancer patients, organ transplant and child mortality rate brought about by its national health insurance system.

“Korea has treated more than 3 million foreign patients from 189 countries since 2009 and also have 162 medical institutions operating in 28 countries showing Korea’s commitment to elevating the level of medical services in these countries,” Park added.

Outlining a future plan, he said that the government will focus on enhancing the sustainability of the national health insurance system by supporting in particular, essential medical services like severe disease, paediatric care and child delivery to nurture Korea’s bioindustry as a next growth engine.

“We are also prioritizing investments in training talents and supporting the development of innovative new drugs while deregulating restrictions in the biohealth field," he said.

Park referenced the Biohealth New Market Creation Strategy developed in February 2022 which will guide the government’s future developments in the medical arena.

UAE’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi also noted Korea as a reliable partner in all areas of healthcare and medical tourism. “We are still working to strengthen ties with Korea’s medical institute and centres and as a result of our collaborations, both sides have seen significant growth and expansion.”

International participants like Compliance Manager of a Brazilian medical device import association, Davi Uemto da Salvia, said that he was interested in Korea’s disruptive medical devices, showing special interest in the field of dermatology and diagnostics in Korea.

Meanwhile Hanan Mohammed, founder of Mediconnetz who has been living in Korea for 10 years, is now working as a freelancer in Korea helping to bridge the gap between Korea and the Middle East so that patients in the Middle East can access Korean medical services with specific attention towards medical treatments in plastic surgery.

Another speaker from Kazakstan, Amina Seidanova attending and representing the Korea -Kazakstan Educational Research Center said that she wants to help both countries develop sustainable rehabilitation medical services in Central Asia specifically for adult and paediatric neurology.