South Korea aims to become Asia's new medical travel hub

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

SEOUL (AFP) — After building its economy on semiconductors, ships and steel, South Korea is touting its surgeons' skills in the beauty business to carve out a new niche.

Helped by active government support, a boom in cosmetic surgery and a pool of experienced surgeons, the country wants to surpass Singapore, Thailand and India to become Asia's new medical tourism hub.

"In foreign countries, the combination of the health and tourism industries is emerging as a new future-oriented industrial sector," President Lee Myung-Bak said at a recent policy briefing.

"South Korea, which has world-class medical staff, has failed to capitalise on the combination of health and tourism, mainly due to excessive regulations."

Health Minister Kim Soung-Yee said...