Foreign card spending on medical services and related products in South Korea rose 66.5% in July from a year earlier to 213 billion won ($145 million), according to credit card-based data from the Korea Tourism Organization. The increase extends annual growth of 65% in 2025 and 78.6% in 2024, underscoring the expanding economic role of medical tourism. Separately, South Korea received 2.01 million foreign visitors for medical, dental and surgical care in 2025, up 71.9% from the previous year, according to the state-run Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Chinese visitors accounted for 618,000, or 30.8% of the total, while Japan contributed 600,000 visitors. The report’s country breakdown then cited 185,00.