Big Take Asia Podcast

South Korea Has Plenty of Botox But Not Enough Doctors

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, we examine surging medical tourism in South Korea and how it’s colliding with a shortage of physicians to care for locals.

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

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By Yang Yang, Naomi Ng, Rebecca Choong Wilkins, and Jessica Beck

January 14, 2025 at 4:03 PM EST

Updated on

January 15, 2025 at 12:08 AM EST

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A record 600,000 people traveled to South Korea for medical procedures in 2023, with roughly half of those visiting dermatology and plastic surgery clinics.