The number of foreigners visiting cosmetic clinics operating in South Korea reached 36,224 last year, up from 2,851 tallied in 2009. (image: Gangnam Medical Tour Center)
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of foreign patients receiving plastic surgery in South Korea has shot up 13-fold since 2010 thanks to Chinese tourists, a report showed Thursday.
The number of foreigners visiting cosmetic clinics operating in South Korea reached 36,224 last year, up from 2,851 tallied in 2009, according to the report submitted to a parliamentary audit by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
The 2014 figure accounted for 10.2 percent of the country’s total foreign patients of 354,389 last year. They spent a combined 557.9 billion won (US$478.1 million) in the country for medical services.
Such plastic surgery clinics posted 125.3 billion won in revenue last year, up from 5.7 billion won in 2009.
Nearly 70 percent, or 24,854, of foreign plastic surgery patients were Chinese, skyrocketing from 791 in 2009.
The Seoul government has made efforts to draw foreign tourists coming to the country for medical services in a bid to foster the sector as a new driving force of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Earlier this year, it announced a comprehensive plan to enhance safety and convenience for foreign patients, including crackdowns on exorbitant fees, illegal medical brokers and uncertified practitioners.
(Yonhap)
