Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Khunopie]

Is it just me or does this sound like a tanker of bull crap?

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2887143

March 08, 2008
Sophisticated marketing, lower prices and even Korean dramas have helped push the number of medical tourists from 760 in 2005 to 16,000 last year, the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion announced yesterday. That is more than a 20-fold increase.
�South Korean hospitals offer cutting-edge medical techniques, comparable to those of developed countries, but the cost is lower,� said Chang Gyeong-won, secretary general of the council, which was created last year to promote medical tourism. �Our goal is to attract 100,000 foreign patients by 2012.�
The majority of the patients come from China and Japan. They seek all kinds of treatment, from plastic surgery to health checkups.
The cost here is about one-third of that in the United States, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences said. The academy said that if the medical equipment and ability of the United States rates as a 100, South Korea would be a 90 or 91.
�Due to global marketing efforts and the Korean wave, or hallyu, [the popularity of Korean pop culture, including TV dramas, in Asian countries], we are receiving calls from the Philippines, Malaysia and India,� said Lee Gyeong-soo, president of Yidemei Plastic Surgery Clinic in southern Seoul.
Two years ago, Kang Won-gyeong, chairman of the clinic, launched a promotion to attract foreign customers. He also hired hospital staff members who can speak Chinese and changed the clinic�s name from the Kang Won-gyeong Plastic Surgery Clinic to Yidemei, which means acquiring beauty through medical treatment in Chinese.
In two years, the number of foreign patients at the hospital increased from 10 to 100 per year, according to the clinic.
�One Filipina patient told me that she was worried because she might be refused entry back into her country because of her transformation,� Kang said. The 30-year-old patient flew to the clinic in December last year to fix her nose after attending a presentation by the clinic at an international medical fair in the Phillippines.
Inha University Hospital also plans to attract as many as 1,000 foreign patients this year. The hospital�s strategy is to target ethnic Koreans in the United States and then lure American patients by word of mouth.
The hospital�s cheaper treatment fees compared to hospitals in the United States are its biggest advantage.
For instance, a health checkup costs on average 500,000 won ($527) here while it costs between 2.5 and 3 million won in the States.
�About 90 percent of the foreign patients who visit our hospital for a health checkup also choose to be treated for other ailments,� said Yoon Dong-hoon, director of Inha hospital�s health promotion center.
According to the Welfare Ministry, hospitals here earned $61.6 million by treating foreign patients last year, up from $59 million in 2006.
�We plan to run an international medical service academy to globalize our local physicians and help them specialize in the needs of each target country,� said an official at the ministry who declined to be named.


By Kim Chang-gyu JoongAng Ilbo [[email protected]]

[cdninkorea]

Well, I've heard from many people that Chinese and especially Japanese women come to Korea for cosmetic surgery- no reliable proof, just lots of people saying this.
Haven't heard anything about other medical procedures.

[mistermasan]

i know a teacher who came to korea SPECIFICALLY for the plastic surgery benefits. back home she was obese and had the stomach removal procedure.

that left her draped in excess skin that wouldn't go away. she came to teach in korea and would have plastic surgery on the weekends. in the half year i knew her she only begged off work 1 day (that was after they took alot off the midsection). she mighta saved upwards of 50,000 US$ on plastic surgery alone by having it done in korea. allegedly, her plastic surgeon up in seoul, gave her all kinda perks since he hardly ever gets to practice the kind of surgery she needed.

she'll never be petite but she looks much better now that many of the folds of flesh are gone.

[blaseblasphemener]

and the winner of the "you made me bring up my breakfast" thread is:

[mistermasan]

well...extrapolate it out! a picture is worth 10,000 words and i gave you only about a half dozen words.

the affordable plastic surgery was a great thing in this case.