In Korea the difference between a hospital and a clinic is set by law, not by marketing. A clinic (์์, uiwon) treats mainly outpatients. A hospital (๋ณ์, byeongwon) treats mainly inpatients and must have at least 30 beds. Above that sit general hospitals with 100 beds or more and the tertiary hospitals the government designates for the most complex care. For most planned treatments that bring visitors to Korea, such as skin care, cosmetic procedures, dental work and eye surgery, a clinic is the usual place. For cancer, heart, transplant or other complex inpatient care, a general or tertiary hospital is.
This guide explains each level, what it means for cost, referrals and safety, and how to decide. The legal rules and statistics below are linked to their sources, which are listed at the end. It is general information, not medical advice; your own condition decides where you should be treated.
The four levels of medical institution in Korea
Korea's Medical Service Act sorts medical institutions by what they do and how many beds they have (Articles 3 to 3-5). One thing confuses almost every visitor: in everyday Korean, people say ๋ณ์ (byeongwon) for any of them, including the small clinic on the corner. The legal name on the sign is what tells you the level.
Clinic (์์)
A clinic-level institution is where a physician, dentist or doctor of Korean medicine provides care primarily to outpatients. The category covers medical clinics, dental clinics and Korean medicine clinics. Most are run by one doctor or a small group and focus on one field: dermatology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, dentistry, internal medicine and so on. You walk in or book, are seen, and leave the same day.
Hospital (๋ณ์)
A hospital-level institution provides care primarily to inpatients and must have at least 30 beds. Many Korean hospitals at this level concentrate on one area, for example joints and spine, women's health or rehabilitation. The Minister of Health and Welfare can designate a hospital that meets set standards in a specific field as a specialized hospital (์ ๋ฌธ๋ณ์), and that status is reviewed every three years.
General hospital (์ข ํฉ๋ณ์)
A general hospital must have at least 100 beds and a required set of departments. With 100 to 300 beds it needs at least seven: three of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology, plus radiology, anesthesiology and laboratory services. Above 300 beds it needs at least nine. This is the level where several specialties work together under one roof.
Tertiary hospital (์๊ธ์ข ํฉ๋ณ์)
A tertiary hospital is a general hospital that the Minister of Health and Welfare has designated to provide highly specialized care for serious illness. It must run at least 20 specialty departments, train specialists, and is re-evaluated every three years. The ministry criteria for the current 2024 to 2026 period also require intensive care units for adults, children and newborns and a designated emergency medical center. The ministry designated 47 hospitals for 2024 to 2026. The large university hospitals that international patients have heard of are in this group.
Where international patients actually go
The picture most people have, a big university hospital, is not where most foreign patients are treated. The Ministry of Health and Welfare reported in April 2026 that 2.01 million international patients from 201 countries visited Korea in 2025, and that 87.7 percent of them were treated at clinic-level institutions. General hospitals saw 3.6 percent and tertiary hospitals 3.0 percent.
The reason is the kind of care people come for. In the same report dermatology accounted for 62.9 percent of international patients and plastic surgery for 11.2 percent, followed by internal medicine at 9.2 percent and health screening centers at 3.1 percent. Seoul received 87.2 percent of all international patients.
Our own directory looks the same. Of the 123 providers listed on Medipanion on 8 October 2026, 100 are listed as clinics and 23 as hospitals, and none is a tertiary hospital. Every provider with a city on record is in Seoul. You can browse all providers or open the hospital and clinic directory.
How the difference affects your treatment
Scope of care and overnight stays
A clinic is built for planned, same-day care in one field. A hospital is built to admit patients, keep them overnight and bring more than one specialty to the same case. If your treatment needs several days of inpatient care, or your health history means another specialist should be on hand, that points to a hospital. If it is a single outpatient procedure in a field the clinic does every day, a clinic is designed for exactly that.
Emergencies
Emergency rooms are a hospital function. Being a designated emergency medical center is one of the conditions for tertiary status, and a clinic is not set up for emergencies. In an emergency in Korea, call 119 for an ambulance. If you are having surgery at a clinic, ask before you book which hospital the clinic transfers patients to if something goes wrong, and who makes that call.
Referrals
For people enrolled in Korea's National Health Insurance, care is split into two stages. The first stage is any institution except a tertiary hospital. To use insurance at a tertiary hospital you need a referral letter (์์๊ธ์ฌ์๋ขฐ์) from a first-stage doctor. There are exceptions, including emergencies, childbirth and family medicine. Without a referral you can still be seen, but as Seoul National University Hospital explains, you pay 100 percent of the insured fee yourself.
Most medical travelers are not in that system. Under the law on attracting international patients, an "international patient" is a foreign national who is not a member or dependent of National Health Insurance, so you are paying in full either way. Large hospitals handle such patients through an international healthcare center that takes appointment requests directly. Seoul National University Hospital, for example, lists a dedicated phone line and an online appointment form. Ask the center which medical records it wants before it gives you a date.
Capacity for international patients
The law caps how many beds international patients may occupy at the largest hospitals: 5 percent at tertiary hospitals and 8 percent at general hospitals. The ministry figures for 2025 show actual use below 1 percent at both. A tertiary hospital is designated for serious illness, so expect it to ask for your records first and decide whether your case belongs there.
Language support
Do not assume a bigger institution means better English, or the reverse. Tertiary hospitals tend to concentrate language support in one international center. Clinics that receive many foreign patients often have coordinators for specific languages, while a neighborhood clinic may have none. Ask which languages are covered on the day of your appointment, and by whom.
Cost
Fees differ between levels and between institutions at the same level, and for treatments that insurance does not cover each provider sets its own price. That is why we do not publish price tables. Ask for a written, itemized quote from each provider you are considering and compare what is included. Our guide on how to book medical treatment in Korea covers what to ask for.
How to check who is treating you
The level of the institution tells you about its size, not about the individual doctor. Three checks are worth doing at any level.
Read the sign
Korean rules on signboards (Enforcement Rule of the Medical Service Act, Articles 40 to 42) let a clinic put a specialty in its name only when the doctor who opened it is a board-certified specialist in that field: for example "OO ํผ๋ถ๊ณผ์์" for a dermatology specialist. A doctor without that qualification may still offer the service, but the name must read "OO์์" and the field appears separately after the word ์ง๋ฃ๊ณผ๋ชฉ ("treatment subjects"), in letters no more than half the size of the name. So "OO์์ ์ง๋ฃ๊ณผ๋ชฉ ํผ๋ถ๊ณผ" means a clinic that offers dermatology, not a clinic run by a dermatology specialist. A Korean newspaper reported in May 2026 that signs do not always follow the rule, so treat it as a first clue and ask the clinic directly about the doctor's specialist qualification.
Check registration for international patients
Any clinic or hospital can treat a foreign patient who walks in. To attract international patients, which the law defines as arranging things such as reservations, treatment contracts and treatment information for them, an institution must register with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Under Article 6 of the same law, it must assign at least one specialist to each department that will attract international patients and must carry medical malpractice liability insurance or belong to a medical liability mutual aid association. Ask the provider to confirm that it is registered.
Know where to get help
The government-run Medical Korea Information Center helps foreign patients with information on medical institutions, reservations, complaints, and medical disputes, including transfer to the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency. Its Seoul office is on level B2 of the Seoul Station Airport Railroad and is open daily from 09:00 to 18:00, with service in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The phone number inside Korea is 1577-7129. For what the law gives you if something goes wrong, see our guide to patient rights in Korean medical tourism.
Which should you choose?
Start from the treatment, not from the building.
- A clinic usually fits when the treatment is a planned outpatient procedure in one field, you are otherwise healthy, and the clinic does that procedure routinely.
- A hospital or specialized hospital usually fits when you will be admitted for several days, or the treatment is in a field such as joints, spine or women's health where a hospital concentrates on it.
- A general or tertiary hospital usually fits when the condition is serious or complex, more than one specialty has to be involved, or you have other health conditions that raise the risk of any procedure.
If you are unsure, send your records to one of each and compare the answers. Our guides on choosing the right hospital and doctor in Korea and the complete guide to medical tourism in Korea walk through the rest of the decision.
Sources
- Medical Service Act, Articles 3, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4 and 3-5 (English translation, Korea Legislation Research Institute).
- Ministry of Health and Welfare press release, 24 April 2026: international patients in 2025 (Korean).
- Ministry of Health and Welfare: criteria for designating tertiary hospitals, 2024 to 2026 (Korean).
- Dailypharm, 29 December 2023: the ministry designates 47 tertiary hospitals for 2024 to 2026 (Korean).
- Seoul National University Hospital: referral letters under Article 2 of the Rules on the Standards for National Health Insurance Benefits (Korean).
- Act on Supporting of Overseas Expansion of Medical Services and Attraction of International Patients, Articles 2, 6 and 10 (English translation, Korea Legislation Research Institute).
- Enforcement Rule of the Medical Service Act, Articles 40 to 42 (Korean).
- Joongbu Ilbo, 26 May 2026: clinic signs and the specialty rule (Korean).
- Medical Korea Information Center: locations, hours and services.
- Medipanion directory data, counted on 8 October 2026.