# How to check whether a clinic in South Korea is registered to attract foreign patients

> Citation bundle for the guide "How to check whether a clinic in South Korea is registered to attract foreign patients" on The Treatment Registry.
> URL: https://thetreatmentregistry.com/guides/check-clinic-licence-south-korea
> Bundle URL: https://thetreatmentregistry.com/api/citations/guides/check-clinic-licence-south-korea

- Published: 2026-10-15
- Last updated: 2026-10-15
- Author: The Treatment Registry
- Conflicts of interest: The registry does not accept payment for listings, referral commissions, or sponsored content.

## Summary

How to check if a South Korean clinic is registered to attract foreign patients: the KHIDI registry search, what to ask the clinic, who to contact.

## Content

The Medical Korea registry, run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), lets anyone look up a clinic by its Korean business registration number (사업자등록번호) or its Korean name to see whether it is registered to attract foreign patients, with no login. The site is in Korean (we found no English version) and covers registered institutions and agents, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 기관조회 licence lookup requires a certificate login and the user's confirmation that the data subject consented.

## Who has to register

Registration is required by Article 6 (제6조) of the Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Medicine and Attraction of Foreign Patients (의료 해외진출 및 외국인환자 유치 지원에 관한 법률), in the text in force from 12 May 2026. All English renderings of Korean legal and registry text on this page are our translation. Paragraph 1 says a medical institution that intends to attract foreign patients must meet the listed requirements and register with the city or provincial governor (시ㆍ도지사). Paragraph 2 says the same of any other person who intends to attract foreign patients. The Act defines attracting foreign patients (Article 2, item 3) as activities to promote foreign patients' use of domestic medical institutions by providing treatment-related convenience, such as booking treatment, concluding contracts and acting as agent, providing treatment information, and guiding on transport and accommodation.

One listed requirement for a medical institution is that it has joined medical-accident liability insurance prescribed by Ministry of Health and Welfare ordinance, or the medical liability mutual aid association under the Act on Remedies for Injuries from Medical Malpractice and Mediation of Medical Disputes (Article 6(1), item 2). The registry's own page adds that the scope of cover must include foreign patients.

The governor must issue a registration certificate to each registered institution and each registered person (Article 6(5)). Registration is valid for three years from the registration date (Article 6(6)), and the registry's page gives the same period.

According to the registry's page, an institution that does not meet the registration requirements becomes subject to a corrective-order notice from the governor. The same page lists failure to comply with a corrective order under Article 22 as a ground for cancelling registration, and says an institution whose registration was cancelled may re-register after one year has passed. Article 22 (제22조) is the corrective-order article; it is not the article that creates the duty to register.

## Step by step on the registry

We read these pages on 15 October 2026. The registry is at [medicalkorea.or.kr/korp/main.do](https://www.medicalkorea.or.kr/korp/main.do), and the two searches below need no login.

### Search by business registration number

1. Ask the clinic for its Korean business registration number (사업자등록번호), because the lookup box asks for the business registration number of the institution you want to look up.
2. On the home page, find the 등록기관 조회 box and enter the number in the three boxes provided.
3. Run the search and read the message that comes back.

The page can return any of four results.

- Registered: the page says the business number you looked up is registered as an attraction institution (유치기관).
- No match: the page says there is no company information matching the business registration number you entered.
- Closed (폐업): the page says the number belongs to an institution that has closed its foreign-patient-attraction business.
- Suspended (휴업): the page says the number belongs to an institution that has suspended its foreign-patient-attraction business.

A matching result lists the institution's name (상호명), type (구분), business registration number and address (주소).

### Search by name

The second search, 유치기관 현황조회, takes the institution's name; if the box is left blank it lists the status of all attraction institutions. Its filters are the category (all, medical institution or attraction business operator), the region, and the status, with 'maintained' (유지) checked by default. There is also a field for the last four digits of the institution's registration number. Because the site is Korean-only, the name has to be the clinic's Korean name.

### What to ask the clinic for

- Its 사업자등록번호, so that you can run the number search above.
- A look at its registration certificate: Article 8(1) requires a registered institution to post the certificate inside the premises so that anyone can see it, and not posting it is a ground for a corrective order under Article 22(2), item 2.
- Information on the diagnosis, treatment method and possible side effects (Article 8(2), item 1) and on the dispute-resolution procedure if a medical accident occurs (item 3): Article 8(2) requires a registered medical institution to take measures so that a foreign patient can know these matters, such as by drawing them up separately and giving guidance (별도로 작성하여 안내하는 등).

The registry says enquiries about registering foreign-patient attraction institutions are handled by each local government, and it links a list of the helpdesks.

## What the registry does not tell you

### It is not in English

We found no English version: the registry address /korp/eng/main.do returned a 404 error, and khidi.or.kr/eng returned a Korean 'page not found' message. A foreign patient therefore needs the clinic's Korean business registration number or its Korean name to search.

### It is not a doctor check

The registry's scope is registered foreign-patient-attraction medical institutions and agents (유치기관), and a result shows the institution's name, type, business registration number and address.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare's licence lookup (lic.mohw.go.kr, 기관조회) looks up licence registration details of health professionals, and the ministry describes it as usable as a work reference. It does not show administrative sanctions. It sits behind a certificate login, and using it means confirming that the lookup is made after obtaining the data subject's consent. One of the purposes it lists is checking licence registration for staff recruitment documents. On that basis it is an institution service. We did not open the ministry's separate personal lookup page, so we cannot say what an individual can do there.

### A hospital finder is not proof of registration

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA, 건강보험심사평가원) runs a public hospital and pharmacy finder (병원·약국찾기) that works without a login. Its search form has no field for foreign-patient registration, so appearing in it does not show that a clinic is registered.

## If something goes wrong

The Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (K-MEDI) has an [English site](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/eng/index.do). It states that it provides free counselling services related to medical disputes. Its English pages include a mediation application form for patients (a Word file) and a menu item for requesting medical dispute mediation by e-mail. Consultation requests can be made online 24 hours a day. The telephone number for consultation is +82-2-1670-2545, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 18:00, as published on its English page, and the e-mail address is forcc@k-medi.or.kr. We did not read K-MEDI's fee information, so we do not say what mediation or arbitration costs.

## Related

- [South Korea: regulation, recourse and clinics](/countries/south-korea)
- [MEDICALKOREA Foreign Patient Attraction Information System (KHIDI)](/regulatory-bodies/khidi-medicalkorea-foreign-patient-registry)
- [How to check whether a clinic is licensed](/guides/check-if-clinic-licensed)
- [How to verify a surgeon's credentials](/guides/verify-surgeon-credentials)

## Sources

- [Medical Korea (KHIDI) Foreign Patient Attraction Information System: home page with the two registry searches](https://www.medicalkorea.or.kr/korp/main.do)
- [Medical Korea (KHIDI): foreign-patient attraction institution registration system page](https://www.medicalkorea.or.kr/korp/intro/registration.do)
- [의료 해외진출 및 외국인환자 유치 지원에 관한 법률 (law.go.kr)](https://www.law.go.kr/%EB%B2%95%EB%A0%B9/%EC%9D%98%EB%A3%8C%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%84%EC%B6%9C%EB%B0%8F%EC%99%B8%EA%B5%AD%EC%9D%B8%ED%99%98%EC%9E%90%EC%9C%A0%EC%B9%98%EC%A7%80%EC%9B%90%EC%97%90%EA%B4%80%ED%95%9C%EB%B2%95%EB%A5%A0)
- [K-MEDI English site: counselling methods](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/eng/lay1/S239T269C270/contents.do)
- [K-MEDI English site: home page](https://www.k-medi.or.kr/eng/index.do)
- [Ministry of Health and Welfare licence lookup (면허민원안내, 기관조회 service guide)](https://lic.mohw.go.kr/instt/instt_srch_each.do?MENU_ID=I-02-01)
- [HIRA hospital and pharmacy finder (병원·약국찾기)](https://www.hira.or.kr/ra/hosp/getHealthMap.do?pgmid=HIRAA030002010000)