The government plans to allow "domestic advertisements to attract foreign patients," prohibited under the Medical Service Act, in medical tourism special zones.

The plan is part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s “Economic Policy Direction for 2024,” announced Thursday.

The ministry said it would promote the influx of tourists to Korea to "accelerate the recovery of domestic demand and exports," including expanding medical tourism.

Given the recovery trend of foreigners traveling to Korea for medical tourism, the ministry vowed to improve the system to accelerate recovery.

According to the ministry, the number of foreigners visiting Korea increased from 300,000 in 2015 to 500,000 in 2019. It dropped to 120,000 in 2020 but rebounded to 150,000 in 2021 and 250,000 in 2022.

Therefore, the ministry plans to allow medical advertisements to attract international patients to medical tourism special zones.

To this end, it will establish a special regulation on Article 56, Paragraph 2, Item 2 of the Medical Service Act, called the “Regulatory Exception Act on Regulatory Free Zones and Specialized Regional Development Zones.”.

Currently, there are several special zones in Korea, including Gangseo Miracle-Medical Special Zone and Yeongdeungpo Smart Medical Special Zone in Seoul, Seo-gu Global High Medihub Special Zone in Busan, Daegu MediCity-Daegu Global Medical Special Zone, and Wonju Advanced Medical Health Industry Special Zone in Gangwon Province.

Article 56 of the Medical Service Act is a provision on the “prohibition of medical advertisements,” which stipulates that a person who is not a medical institution owner, medical institution director, or medical practitioner is prohibited from advertising medical care. Paragraph 2, Item 12 prohibits medical institution owners, directors, and medical practitioners from advertising in Korea to attract foreign patients.

Against this backdrop, the finance ministry plans to add a special provision to the Medical Service Act to allow domestic advertisements to attract foreign patients only in medical tourism special zones.

In addition, the ministry will consider relaxing the application requirements for medical tourism centers that can issue electronic visas to improve the convenience of visa issuance for foreign patients.

To apply for a medical tourism center of excellence, an institution must have 50 medical tourism invitations or 500 treatments for foreign patients.