Seeing a Doctor or Pharmacist in Korea as a Visitor

This guide covers ordinary illness and minor injuries: a fever, a stomach bug, a sprain or running out of your regular medicine. It isn’t medical advice, and it doesn’t replace a doctor.

In an emergency, call 119 (free ambulance, interpreters available). Emergency numbers, the 1330 helpline and lost passports are covered in emergency numbers and help.

Where to go for what

Situation	Where to go
Mild cold, headache, upset stomach, blisters	Pharmacy (약국, yakguk)
Need a diagnosis or a prescription	Neighborhood clinic (의원, uiwon)
Specialist care, or you want English support and paperwork help	Hospital international clinic (weekdays)
Pharmacy closed late at night	Public late-night pharmacy, or a convenience store for basics
Severe or sudden symptoms	119 or an emergency room

Clinics vs hospitals. Korea’s medical system has small clinics (의원, uiwon) for everyday problems and larger hospitals (병원, byeongwon) and university hospitals for specialist care. For Korean patients, the national insurance system expects people to start at a clinic and get a referral before going to a top-tier university hospital. As an uninsured visitor, the practical choice is usually a clinic for simple problems, or a hospital’s international clinic if you want staff who handle foreign patients.

Clinic signs name the specialty, for example 내과 (internal medicine), 이비인후과 (ear, nose and throat), 피부과 (dermatology) and 정형외과 (orthopedics). Bring your passport.

Finding an English-speaking doctor

• Hospital international clinics. Large Seoul hospitals such as Seoul National University Hospital, Severance, Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center and Seoul St. Mary’s run international healthcare centers. They help with appointments, interpretation and billing. Most open on weekdays only; phone numbers are in emergency numbers and help.
• Medical Korea Information Center (1577-7129, or +82-1577-7129 from abroad). Run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, it gives information on hospitals with English-speaking staff and on departments and treatments. Its official page lists 24-hour service in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Arabic.
• Medical Korea website. You can browse hospitals accredited for foreign patients (KAHF) on medicalkorea.or.kr.
• 1330 travel helpline. It can interpret on the phone if you’re at a clinic where nobody speaks English.

What it costs and how to pay

Short-term visitors aren’t covered by Korea’s National Health Insurance, so you pay the full, uninsured price. We couldn’t find an official, current figure for a typical clinic visit for uninsured foreigners, so we don’t quote one. What you can expect:

• You pay at the reception desk after the consultation, by card or cash, before you leave.
• Medicine is paid separately at the pharmacy.
• Ask for paperwork for your insurer before you leave. Useful documents are a receipt (영수증, yeongsujeung), an itemized statement of charges (진료비 세부내역서) and, if your insurer needs it, a medical certificate (진단서, jindanseo). A medical certificate may cost extra.
• Check your travel insurance for how to claim. See travel insurance for Korea.

Pharmacies: hours and what they sell

Pharmacies are marked with a 약 sign. They’re common near clinics, subway stations and in shopping areas.

• Hours vary. Many close on Sundays, but pharmacies near major stations often stay open. VisitKorea suggests Hongdae (around Hongik Univ. Station exits 8 and 9) as an area with late-opening pharmacies.
• Airports: Incheon Airport has pharmacies in both terminals, and Gimpo’s international terminal has one on the 3rd floor.
• Prescriptions: Korea separates prescribing and dispensing. The clinic gives you a prescription (처방전, cheobangjeon) and you take it to any pharmacy. Prescription-only medicines aren’t sold without one.
• Over the counter: pharmacists sell many everyday medicines without a prescription, such as pain relievers, cold remedies, digestive aids and creams, and can advise you.
• Language help: show a photo of a medicine you use at home, or look for a “Language assistance available” sign in tourist areas.

Late nights, Sundays and holidays

• E-Gen (e-gen.or.kr), run by the National Emergency Medical Center, has a pharmacy and hospital finder with an English version. Its map shows places open right now.
• Seoul’s public late-night pharmacies: 39 across all 25 districts, open 10 pm to 1 am. Twenty-eight open every day of the year; the rest on set weekdays. The city lists them in its Wrist Doctor 9988 app and on the Seoul Map.
• Other cities also designate late-night pharmacies, with their own hours.

Medicines at convenience stores

When pharmacies are closed, 24-hour convenience stores registered to sell safe household medicines (안전상비의약품) can help. By law the list has 13 products in four groups: fever and pain relievers, cold medicines, digestive aids and pain-relief patches. Two discontinued products mean only about 11 are actually on shelves. Antidiarrheals aren’t on the list.

The rules, from Korea’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act:

• One pack of each product per purchase.
• No sales to children under 12.
• No pharmacist advice. If symptoms don’t improve, see a clinic.

Bringing your own medication

• Keep medicines in their original packaging and carry them in your hand luggage.
• Bring proof they’re for you: a prescription, a doctor’s letter or a pharmacy label. Korea’s foreign ministry says ordinary medicines are limited to 6 bottles or three months’ supply.
• Controlled medicines need a permit. Medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances, such as some ADHD, sleep and strong pain medicines, need a permit from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) before you arrive. Embassy guidance says to apply at least 10 business days ahead, and the amount can’t exceed a 90-day supply. Check your local Korean embassy’s page for the current forms.
• Don’t mail controlled medicines to Korea; packages may be destroyed or returned.
• No CBD. Products containing CBD, THC or CBN count as cannabis and are prohibited.

Useful phrases

English	Korean
Where is a pharmacy?	약국 어디예요? (yakguk eodiyeyo?)
Is there a doctor who speaks English?	영어 하는 의사 있어요? (yeongeo haneun uisa isseoyo?)
I have a fever.	열이 나요. (yeori nayo.)
I have a headache / stomachache.	머리가 / 배가 아파요. (meoriga / baega apayo.)
I’m allergic to…	…에 알레르기가 있어요. (…e allereugiga isseoyo.)
Receipt and itemized bill, please.	영수증하고 진료비 세부내역서 주세요.

Save these in the Say It phrase cards, and use Show the Driver to get a taxi to a clinic or hospital address.