Foreign-patient registration for Korean clinics: what it is and how to check a clinic's number

What the registration is and who it is for

The Act (의료 해외진출 및 외국인환자 유치 지원에 관한 법률, short name 의료해외진출법) sets up a registration for medical institutions that want to attract foreign patients. It defines two terms:

• Foreign patient. A foreigner who is not enrolled in, or a dependant under, Korea's National Health Insurance. A ministerial ordinance excludes foreigners who hold an alien registration card (those in the G-1 "other" status are not excluded) and ethnic Koreans with foreign nationality who have filed a domestic residence report.
• Attracting foreign patients. Activities that promote foreign patients' use of Korean institutions: taking bookings and signing contracts (including as an agent), providing treatment information, and guiding patients on transport and lodging.

Before 2016 the registration was in article 27-2 of the Medical Service Act. That article was deleted on 22 December 2015, and the registration moved to the new Act, which took effect on 23 June 2016. Institutions that were already registered under the old article were treated as registered under the new Act, and had to renew within one year.

KHIDI says the system exists to prevent disorder in the domestic medical market from unregulated attraction of foreign patients, to protect the quality of public medical services from over-competition, and to protect Korea's image from unqualified institutions and agents.

Two registrations: institutions and facilitators

The Act sets up two separate registrations, and the mayor or governor issues a registration certificate for each:

• Foreign-patient attraction medical institution (외국인환자 유치의료기관). A hospital or clinic that treats foreign patients. This is the registration this directory shows.
• Foreign-patient attraction business operator (외국인환자 유치사업자), or facilitator. A business that is not a medical institution but brings foreign patients to institutions, for example an agency. It needs surety insurance, a minimum amount of capital and an office in Korea. This directory does not list or check facilitators.

Medical Korea publishes two lists. The Registered Hospitals list had 4,412 entries on 29 October 2026, with numbers that start with "M-". The Registered Facilitators list had 2,888 entries, with numbers that start with "A-". The Act also lets the city or province cancel the registration of an institution that accepts a treatment-contract referral from someone who is not a registered facilitator. If an agent brings you to a clinic, you can look the agent up in the facilitator list.

What registration is, and what it is not

The requirements in article 6 are about staffing and insurance (see the next section). None of them is an assessment of treatment quality or results, so a registration number tells you that the clinic is in the registry. It does not tell you how good the care is.

Three other credentials sound similar and are separate:

The ministry describes KAHF as certifying excellent attraction institutions, and its 2023 notice for it is titled "Recruiting excellent foreign-patient attraction institutions". Until a law change on 22 December 2022 it was a two-year "designation" scheme. It is now a four-year "certification" scheme with a one-year conditional grade. Only an institution that is already registered can apply, and hospital-level institutions must first hold the Medical Service Act accreditation. The law prohibits using the certification mark, or claiming certification in any other way, without holding it. Medical Korea lists KAHF-accredited institutions on its Accredited Hospital page, which had 26 entries on 29 October 2026.

A registration number does not mean the clinic holds any of the other credentials in the table, and the reverse is also true.

Requirements and duties

To register, an institution must meet two requirements:

• A specialist for each department. At least one specialist for each department in which it wants to attract foreign patients. The exception is a department that is not among the specialties set by decree.
• Liability insurance. Medical malpractice liability insurance, or membership of the medical-liability mutual aid association, as set by a ministerial ordinance. The ordinance requires the cover to include medical accidents, to have at least the annual limit set for the type of institution, and to stay in force for the whole registration period. KHIDI adds that the cover must include foreign patients. Medical Korea says registered institutions have had to carry this insurance since 2016.

How it is done. The institution applies online through KHIDI's foreign-patient attraction information system. The application includes a list of its specialists for each department, proof of the insurance or mutual aid membership and a business operation plan. Officials check the opening licence and the specialists' certificates through shared government data, and an applicant who does not agree to this attaches them. KHIDI says processing is completed within 20 days, excluding public holidays.

Validity and renewal. A registration lasts three years. An institution that wants to keep attracting foreign patients must renew it before it ends. KHIDI says the renewal must be completed between two months and 20 days before the expiry date. An institution that earns KAHF certification is treated as having renewed on the date of certification.

Duties while registered. A registered institution must:

• display its registration certificate where anyone can see it;
• post the patient rights and duties in English, and keep a printed copy in the institution;
• give foreign patients information on the diagnosis, the treatment method and possible side effects, a treatment contract on the form set by the Minister with the expected fee, and the dispute procedure if a medical accident occurs;
• report a change of its registered details, such as its name, address or representative, to the city or province within one month, and report a suspension or closure within one month;
• report the previous year's foreign-patient results by the end of February each year;
• not lend its certificate, or let others attract foreign patients in its name.

Only a registered institution may call itself a "foreign-patient attraction medical institution" or use a similar name.

Cancellation and penalties. The city or province may order an institution to correct a violation. It may also cancel a registration, and must cancel it if the registration was obtained by false or other improper means. Other grounds include attracting people who are not foreign patients, lending the certificate, and not starting to attract foreign patients within two years of registering without a justified reason. An institution whose registration is cancelled cannot apply again for one year, and the city or province posts the cancellation on its website. The Act makes it a punishable offence to attract foreign patients without registering, and failing to display the certificate carries an administrative fine. Whether a particular clinic's activities count as "attracting" is a legal question that this directory does not decide.

How to check a clinic yourself

The official list is the Registered Hospitals page of Medical Korea, which is run by KHIDI with the Korea Tourism Organization. This is the English page of the list. It showed "Updated as of 10. 2026" on 29 October 2026.

1. Open the Registered Hospitals page.
2. Choose what to search by in the drop-down beside the search box: "hospital" (the name) or "Tel" (the phone number). You can also filter by hospital type and by region.
3. Type part of the name, or part of the phone number with its hyphens, for example the last two groups of digits such as 1234-5678. The list prints phone numbers with hyphens, and in our test on 29 October 2026 the same digits without hyphens found nothing.
4. Open the entry. It shows the registration number, the name, the region, the website (where one is listed), the address, the phone and fax of the clinic's international healthcare centre, and the hospital type.
5. Compare the name, address and phone with the clinic you plan to visit, and make sure it is the same branch.

Pitfalls we found:

• Names are free-form English romanisation. The registry lists one Apgujeong eye clinic that trades as "BGSS Eye Clinic" as "Seoul BalGeunSeSang EyeClinic". It lists a Cheongdam dermatology clinic as "CHEONGCAM OARO DERMATOLOGY" and a Jamsil plastic surgery clinic as "ahnsungmin plastic surgery". Search by phone as well as by name, and try parts of the name.
• A brand can have several entries. Registration is made for each licensed institution, and its name, representative and address must match its opening licence. Searching "BGSS" returned an entry for a different BGSS Eye Clinic, in Busan. Match the address and the phone, not just the name.
• The search covers name and phone only. The drop-down offers only those two, and typing a registration number into the name search returned nothing in our test.
• The entries we opened show no validity date. They show no expiry date or renewal date. Ask the clinic for its certificate if the date matters to you.

What the number looks like

Institution numbers in the list look like M-YYYY-NN-NN-NNNN, for example M-2024-01-08-8284. The last block has between four and six digits in the entries we have seen, for example M-2025-01-08-08948 and M-2026-02-08-709504. Write the number exactly as the registry prints it, including leading zeros. We found no official source that explains what the blocks stand for, so we do not interpret them. Facilitator numbers start with "A-", for example A-2022-01-01-4390.

Clinics in this directory and their registration

On 29 October 2026 we searched the Medical Korea registry by name and phone number for every clinic in this directory, and compared the name, address and phone in the entry with the clinic's own. We show a registration number on a clinic's page only when the registry confirms it. A clinic's own claim of a number is not shown on its own. Where the number a clinic prints differs from the registry's, we show the registry's number.

On 29 October 2026 we searched the Medical Korea registry by name and phone number for all 44 clinics in this directory. 35 are found with a registration number and 9 are not found.

"Not found" means we found no entry under the name and phone number we searched. It does not prove that a clinic is unregistered. The registry may use a different English name or an older phone number.

What to do if you cannot find a clinic or the number does not match

1. Check your search. Try the phone number with hyphens, parts of the name, other spellings and the other branches of the same brand.
2. Ask the clinic for its registration certificate. A registered institution must display it. Compare the number, the name and the address with the registry.
3. Ask the clinic to explain any difference. It may be the English name it used when it registered, a different branch, or a move or phone change. A registered institution must report a change of its registered details within one month.
4. Contact the officials. The Medical Korea Information Center answers in English, Chinese, Japanese and Russian. Its Seoul desk (Seoul Station Airport Railroad) is open daily from 09:00 to 18:00 on +82-2-1577-7129. The Incheon Airport Terminal 1 desk is open daily from 09:00 to 21:00 on +82-32-743-3506 and +82-32-743-3507. KHIDI is on +82-43-713-8000 and [email protected]. The centre also handles complaints, disputes and questions about illegal brokerage, and Medical Korea's brochure page has a leaflet called "For Foreign Patients Medical Dispute Resolution Guidelines". Each city and province also posts its registrations, and its cancellations, on its own website.

Two points to keep in mind. First, "not found" can also mean that the clinic uses a different English name in the registry. Second, the Act ties the registration duty to attracting foreign patients, and treating a foreign patient who walks in is not the same thing as attracting foreign patients as the Act defines it. We did not find an official statement on clinics that treat only foreign patients who come on their own. So we do not call any clinic unregistered, illegal or unsafe on the strength of the registry alone. For help choosing, our articles on receipts and medical records and interpreters and help list what to ask for.

FAQ

Is a Korean clinic that treats foreigners required to be registered?

The Act requires a medical institution that wants to attract foreign patients to register with its city or province. It defines attraction as promoting their use of Korean institutions, for example by taking bookings and giving treatment, transport and lodging information. We found no official statement on clinics that only treat foreign patients who come on their own, so ask the clinic.

Does registration mean a clinic is good or safe?

No. Registration is a legal requirement for attracting foreign patients. It asks for a specialist in each department and malpractice liability insurance, and it does not assess the quality of treatment. A separate, optional programme called KAHF evaluates foreign-patient services and patient safety, and the Medical Service Act has its own accreditation. A registration number does not show that a clinic holds either.

How do I check whether a clinic is registered?

Open the Registered Hospitals list on Medical Korea, which KHIDI runs. Choose "hospital" to search by name or "Tel" to search by phone, using the hyphens as the list prints them. Open the entry and compare the name, address and phone with the clinic's. Several branches can share a brand name, so match the address, not just the name.

Why can't I find a clinic I know is registered?

The names in the registry are free-form English romanisation, so a clinic may be listed under a spelling that differs from the one it uses. A brand may also have several entries for different branches. The search covers only the name and the phone number. Try the phone number with hyphens and parts of the name, and ask the clinic for its certificate.

How long does a registration last, and can I see the expiry date?

A registration lasts three years from the registration date, and the institution must renew it before it ends. The list entries we opened show the number, name, region, address, phone, fax and type, and a website where listed, but no expiry date. If the date matters to you, ask the clinic to show its registration certificate.

What should I do if a clinic's number does not match the registry?

Ask the clinic for a copy of its registration certificate and compare the number, name and address with the registry. Ask it to explain any difference. If it stays unclear, call the Medical Korea Information Center, which answers in English, Chinese, Japanese and Russian, or contact KHIDI. Where a clinic's printed number differs, this directory shows the registry's number.

Sources

• National Law Information Center (법제처), Ministry of Health and Welfare: Act on Overseas Expansion of Medical Care and Support for Attracting Foreign Patients (의료 해외진출 및 외국인환자 유치 지원에 관한 법률), arts. 2, 6 to 8, 11, 14, 22 to 24, 28, 31 and addenda
• National Law Information Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare: Enforcement Rule of the Act (시행규칙), arts. 2, 4 to 7, 17 and addenda
• National Law Information Center: Medical Service Act (의료법), art. 27-2, deleted on 2015-12-22
• National Law Information Center: Medical Service Act (의료법), art. 58 (accreditation of medical institutions)
• KHIDI, Medical Korea: Registration system for foreign-patient attraction institutions (외국인환자유치 기관 등록제도)
• KHIDI, Medical Korea: KAHF, evaluation and certification system for attraction institutions (유치의료기관 평가인증제도)
• Ministry of Health and Welfare press release: Recruiting excellent foreign-patient attraction institutions (2023-02-28)
• Medical Korea (KHIDI and Korea Tourism Organization): Registration System for Medical Institutions
• Medical Korea: Registered Hospitals (list read on 2026-10-29)
• Medical Korea: Registered Facilitators (list read on 2026-10-29)
• Medical Korea: Accredited Hospital (KAHF list)
• Medical Korea: Convenient, Medical Korea Information Center (Seoul and Incheon Airport)
• Medical Korea: Brochure, including the medical dispute resolution guidelines
• Joint Commission International: JCI Publishes 8th Edition of International Accreditation Standards for Hospitals and Academic Medical Centers (2024-07-01)

This page is general information about a legal registration, not legal or medical advice. Statutes were read on law.go.kr, and the Medical Korea and KHIDI pages were read, on 29 October 2026. Laws, insurance minimums, counts and contact details can change, so confirm them with the official sources above.