The Mecca of “Korea Glow-Up”… Gangnam Stands Tall as the Heart of the Plastic Surgery Cluster

Skin and plastic surgery treatment demand is surging worldwide amid intense global interest in K-beauty. In particular, the Gangnam-gu area of Seoul — including Apgujeong, Sinsa, Nonhyeon, Samseong, and Yeoksam — is drawing attention as “Seoul’s leading plastic surgery cluster,” offering an unrivaled infrastructure that lets patients handle everything from consultation to treatment and recovery along a single route. Among medical institutions in Gangnam-gu, those partnered with the Seoul Tourism Organization go a step further, linking foreign patient care with accommodation, sightseeing, and cultural experiences to deliver a premium medical experience for global patients.

■ Foreign Patients Surpass 2 Million for the First Time Ever, Centered on “Seoul Gangnam”

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2.01 million foreign patients visited Korea in 2025, surpassing the 2-million mark for the first time since statistics began in 2009. This is a surge of 71.9% compared to the previous year’s 1.17 million. By medical department, dermatology ranked first with 1.31 million patients (62.9%), followed by plastic surgery with 233,100 patients (11.2%). Regional concentration makes foreign patients’ preferences even clearer: Seoul accounted for 1.76 million patients, or 87.2% of the total. Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing data from the Korean Society of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, reported that about 55% of Seoul’s roughly 600 plastic surgery clinics are concentrated in Gangnam-gu, spotlighting the district’s global standing.

■ Seoul Medical Tourism Registration: A “Safety Mark” Backed by Government and Local Authorities

The Seoul Tourism Organization, a public agency responsible for fostering Seoul’s tourism industry, is jointly pursuing foreign patient attraction and medical tourism promotion. As part of this effort, it identifies partner medical institutions within Seoul and formally introduces them on its website (medical.visitseoul.net). Of the 30 plastic surgery clinics registered there, 21 are located in Gangnam-gu. To be listed on Seoul Medical Tourism, a clinic must first be officially registered as a foreign-patient-attracting medical institution with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in accordance with the Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Medical Services and Attraction of Foreign Patients. Attracting foreign patients without this registration can result in up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won. In other words, hospitals on this list have at least met the minimum legal requirements.

KHIDI goes a step further, running a separate accreditation system for registered institutions to select those with excellent international medical service capabilities. Seoul city also supports partner institutions with 92 medical tourism coordinators covering 10 languages, and even provides airport pickup services for foreign patients. In short, the list of plastic surgery clinics registered with the Seoul Tourism Organization is not a mere promotional list, but a group of institutions operating within a registration and support system managed by the government and local authorities.

■ Why Do Clinics Cluster in Gangnam? “Collaborative Synergy” and a “One-Stop Multilingual System”

So why are plastic surgery clinics concentrated in Gangnam-gu? Experts say the concentration in Gangnam-gu goes beyond simple competition — it has formed a massive industrial ecosystem, or cluster. Neighboring hospitals naturally engage in practices such as collaborative consultations, joint marketing, and sharing multilingual interpreters, maximizing the convenience foreign patients experience. In particular, institutions based in Gangnam-gu are breaking down language barriers not only in English, Chinese, and Japanese, but also in Vietnamese, Russian, Mongolian, Arabic, and Indonesian. Clinics such as JW Jungwon Plastic Surgery and Wonderful Plastic Surgery have complete guidance systems in five or more languages, resulting in very high satisfaction among foreign patients.

■ Safety Management and Foreign-Language Support: Common Conditions Among Registered Institutions

Looking at the Gangnam-gu plastic surgery clinics registered with Seoul Medical Tourism, several common conditions stand out. Wonderful Plastic Surgery, Apgujeong Seoul Plastic Surgery, and DA Plastic Surgery have installed CCTV in all operating rooms to record the entire treatment process in real time, with anesthesiologists on-site to support safety management. TOP Face Plastic Surgery offers consultations in English, Chinese, and Japanese while also operating a full CCTV recording system across all operating rooms, and No Jong-hoon Plastic Surgery serves foreign patients in three languages.

Some institutions have received government certification. JK Plastic Surgery was the first plastic surgery clinic designated as a Ministry of Health and Welfare-certified foreign-patient-attracting medical institution, and with a 20-year accident-free record and a history of attracting patients from roughly 100 countries worldwide, it operates a dedicated hotline for foreign patients. Globi Plastic Surgery is a Ministry of Health and Welfare-certified advanced regenerative medicine institution and operates its own stem cell research institute certified by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Apgujeong Seoul Plastic Surgery and Wonderful Plastic Surgery are registered as medical partner institutions with Seoul National University Hospital, which is considered a strength since it allows them to connect with a tertiary general hospital when a second opinion from another hospital’s doctor is needed or in an emergency. Banobagi Plastic Surgery is an educational partner institution of Seoul National University College of Medicine and an officially designated medical institution for Thai and Vietnamese local broadcasters, and has also been selected as a Seoul medical tourism partner institution.

In addition, Hershe Plastic Surgery, which has attracted foreign patients from 51 countries, has twice won the Minister of Health and Welfare Award and the Gangnam-gu Foreign Patient Service Award, while View Plastic Surgery is registered in Gangnam-gu as an institution offering dedicated foreign-patient coordinators and multilingual interpretation services. Some clinics, such as WiseU Clinic, have opted for a small-scale operating model in which the head doctor personally handles everything from consultation to treatment by limiting the number of patients seen per day.