Medical Care in Korea for Visitors: Where to Go and What to Know

This section explains how to use Korean healthcare if you get ill or hurt during a visit, or if you plan to come for treatment. It covers practical steps only. It is not medical advice, and KoreaStep does not recommend, rank or link to any clinic or hospital. In an emergency, call 119.

Which place for which problem

• Life-threatening: trouble breathing, chest pain, heavy bleeding, collapse — Call 119 or go to an 응급실eunggeupsilEmergency room.
• Minor illness: cold, headache, upset stomach — A 약국yakgukPharmacy.
• You need a diagnosis or prescription medicine — A 의원uiwonClinic (outpatient clinic).
• A problem that needs tests, a specialist or surgery — A 병원byeongwonHospital or general hospital.
• Unsure how serious it is — Call 119 and ask for medical advice.

Korea classes medical institutions by size and purpose. The Medical Service Act describes a clinic as a place that treats mainly outpatients, and a hospital as a place that treats mainly inpatients, with at least 30 beds. See how to see a doctor in Korea for the differences that matter to you.

Numbers to know

• 119: fire, ambulance and rescue, and medical emergencies. Say "English please" or "Interpreter please" and the operator connects an interpreter. The 119 ambulance is free in an emergency.
• 1330 Korea Travel Hotline (+82-2-1330): run by the Korea Tourism Organization. As of October 2026 it answers in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese 24 hours a day, and in Russian, Vietnamese, Thai and Malay/Indonesian from 08:00 to 19:00.
• 1339: the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's infectious disease line. It is not the number for a medical emergency.

The full list is in emergency numbers and help.

What to carry

• Your passport. Clinics and hospitals ask for ID when you register.
• Travel insurance details, including the insurer's 24-hour assistance number and policy number. Short-term visitors are generally not covered by Korean national health insurance. See medical costs and insurance.
• A card that works abroad, and some cash. You usually pay at the desk after the visit.
• A list of your regular medicines by ingredient name, your allergies and your conditions, written in English and, if you can, in Korean.
• A translation app and the 1330 number. See medical interpretation.

The guides in this section

The section has four parts.

Pharmacy

• How to buy medicine at a Korean pharmacy: find a 약국, say what is wrong, understand over-the-counter and prescription-only medicine, pay and read the dosage. It includes a step-by-step player.
• Pharmacies at night, convenience-store medicines and ERs: finding an open pharmacy at night or on a holiday, what 24-hour stores may sell, and bringing your own medicine into Korea.

Seeing a doctor

• How to see a doctor in Korea: choose a department, register, explain symptoms, pay, take a prescription to a pharmacy, and collect papers. It includes a step-by-step player.
• Emergency room and 119: when to call, how emergency centers work, and what to bring.
• Medical costs and insurance: who is covered, what you pay, and which papers a travel insurer wants.
• Medical interpretation: getting help in your language.
• Planned medical visit: checks to make if you are coming to Korea for treatment.

Popular medicines

• Popular medicines in Korea: over-the-counter products Korean pharmacies commonly sell for colds, pain, indigestion, diarrhoea, bites and sore muscles, with ingredients and label cautions.

Korean pharmacy buys

• Korean pharmacy must-buys: what visitors take home, what each product is, airport liquid rules, and the import rules at home.

Start here

1. Save 119 and 1330, and your insurer's number, before you travel.
2. For a cold, a headache or an upset stomach, read how to buy medicine at a pharmacy.
3. If you need a diagnosis or prescription medicine, read how to see a doctor in Korea.
4. If it is urgent, call 119 and read emergency room and 119.
5. Before you shop for medicine to take home, read Korean pharmacy must-buys.