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K-culture fans are also thinking about Korean hospitals
Nearly 63 percent of consumers living abroad say Korean culture affects their decision to use Korean medical services, and 61.2 percent say they would consider visiting Korea for healthcare or medical tourism. The numbers suggest interest in K-pop and Korean shows is turning into real travel and treatment plans, not just streaming and viewing.
The Korea Health Industry Development Institute released the findings on September 17 in its “2025 Survey on Global Perceptions of Korean Medical Services.” The institute has run this survey every year since 2021. This round was conducted online from November 28 to December 23, 2025, and polled 7,100 adults across 25 cities in 16 countries, including the United States, China, Japan and Vietnam.
A rising share say they’d travel for care
Willingness to visit Korea for medical purposes has climbed each year: 51.0 percent in 2022, 54.2 percent in 2023, 59.8 percent in 2024 and 61.2 percent in the latest survey, up 1.4 percentage points from the year before. That is a three-year run of increases, and it means more than six in ten respondents worldwide now see Korea as somewhere they’d consider for medical care.
Interest varied by country. It was highest in Saudi Arabia at 90.8 percent and Indonesia at 89.5 percent. The biggest jumps came from the United States, up 19.0 percentage points to 62.5 percent, and Saudi Arabia, up 12.5 points to 90.8 percent.
China moved differently. Willingness to visit stayed fairly high at 60.1 percent, but that was down 7.7 percentage points from the previous survey, the largest drop of any of the 16 countries. A single global average can hide swings like this in specific markets.
Korea ranks first as a destination
Among the 5,858 respondents open to seeking treatment abroad, Korea was the top choice at 37.3 percent, ahead of the United States at 33.4 percent and Japan at 30.7 percent. Preference for Korea was strongest in Mongolia at 78.8 percent, followed by Vietnam at 58.3 percent and Russia at 53.3 percent.
Of the 2,187 respondents who ranked Korea among their top three choices, 41.2 percent cited medical standards higher than in their own country, 35.4 percent cited trust in Korean hospitals and the country generally, and 27.0 percent cited recommendations from people they know.
General awareness of Korea’s medical standards reached 70.1 percent, up 2.0 percentage points from the year before. Among leading countries in biohealth, Korea ranked first in cosmetics for a second straight year, third in medical services (up two spots), fourth in pharmaceuticals (up two) and fifth in medical devices (up one).
The pull is strongest among younger respondents
The share saying Korean culture affects their medical decisions was highest in Kazakhstan at 85.3 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia at 80.3 percent, Vietnam at 79.8 percent and the United Arab Emirates at 79.5 percent. Across all countries, the effect was stronger among younger respondents.
Han Dong-woo, head of the international healthcare division at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, said younger people tend to have a stronger fondness for K-pop and Korean culture, and that this fondness carries over into wanting to visit Korea and actually use its medical services, not just enjoy the music.
Source: Korea Health Industry Development Institute, “2025 Survey on Global Perceptions of Korean Medical Services”; Yonhap News Agency, September 17, 2026.
