A hotel with a clinic downstairs makes a medicance feel easy (Part 1, Part 2). These checks take about ten minutes and matter more than the view from your room.
Clinic or skin-care shop?
- Under Korea's Medical Service Act, only licensed medical professionals may perform medical procedures. Injections, lasers and RF devices belong in a clinic (의원) or hospital (병원).
- A skin-care shop (피부관리실), which covers many hotel spas, may only do skin analysis, skin care, hair removal and brow grooming, without medical devices or medicines.
- A business that isn't a medical institution may not use a clinic-like name.
So if a spa offers lasers, RF lifting or injections, walk away.
Read the sign
- ○○피부과의원 (dermatology clinic) or ○○성형외과의원 (plastic surgery clinic): the doctor who opened the clinic is a board-certified specialist in that field.
- ○○의원 with 진료과목: 피부과 (department: dermatology) in smaller letters: a clinic run by a licensed doctor who isn't necessarily a dermatology specialist. That's legal, but it's a different thing.
The sign tells you about the founder, not every doctor on staff, so ask who will actually treat you.
Check it online
- Medical Korea lists clinics registered to treat foreign patients (medicalkorea.or.kr, 4,412 listed in October 2026). Registration requires a board-certified specialist in each department that treats foreign patients, and malpractice insurance.
- HIRA's hospital search (hira.or.kr, in Korean) shows each clinic's departments and how many specialists work there.
- The Korean Association of Dermatologists (akd.or.kr) and the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (plasticsurgery.or.kr) both have specialist searches.
Ask before you pay
- Who will do the procedure, and is it the doctor?
- What is the full price, and does it include 10% VAT? The tourist VAT refund ended in 2025.
- Registered clinics must give foreign patients the diagnosis, treatment, possible side effects and an estimated cost in a written contract. Ask for it in English.
- What's the aftercare plan, and who do you contact if something changes after you leave?
If something goes wrong
- 119: emergencies.
- 1577-7129: Medical Korea Support Center, for complaints, help with medical institutions and referrals to dispute mediation.
- 1330: Korea Travel Hotline, for interpretation and tourist help.
- 1670-2545: K-medi, Korea's medical dispute mediation agency. Consultation is free on weekdays, and you can apply by e-mail from abroad (kmedi@k-medi.or.kr). Mediation usually needs the clinic's agreement.
From a foreign phone outside Korea, dial +82-2- before 1330, 1577-7129 or 1670-2545.
Looking for a place to start? Browse verified clinics on Limeglow.
