The treatment articles say what is particular to a nose, an implant or a checkup. These guides cover the part of the trip that is the same whichever you are having done, and it is the part that decides most of the cost: whether you need a visa, how a Korean quote is built and what is left out of it, how payment is staged and why a foreign card fails at the desk, when an interpreter is required rather than nice to have, and how many nights the follow-up appointments really need.
Guides
The parts that are the same whatever you are having done: the sequence, the money, the paperwork, the timing and the language.
Money
How to read a Korean price quote
Why two quotes for the same procedure can differ by half: consultation fees, VAT, anaesthesia, aftercare and the difference between an estimate and a settled bill.
Paying: cards, cash, deposits
How payment is actually staged in Korea, why foreign cards fail more often than people expect, and the one document to collect before you leave the building.
VAT refund on cosmetic procedures
Why cosmetic procedures carry 10% VAT when other treatment does not, how the foreign-patient refund scheme worked, what the statute says about its 31 December 2025 end date, and how to check the position on your own dates.
Travel vs medical insurance
Why ordinary travel insurance usually excludes the very trip you are planning, what complication cover is, and the questions to put to any insurer in writing.
Paperwork and planning
Do you need a medical visa?
Visa-free entry, K-ETA, the short-term medical visa and the long-term treatment visa: which question decides which one applies to you, and what the hospital has to provide.
How many days to stay
Build the trip backwards from the follow-up schedule, not forwards from the procedure date. A planning template plus the questions that decide your last day.
Medical interpreters: when you need one
Where interpreting is already included, where it is not, how separately arranged interpreting is billed, and the parts of a hospital visit where a phone app is not enough.
On the ground
Where to stay near hospital districts
Gangnam and Sinsa for cosmetic clinics, Sinchon and Jongno for major hospitals: how the districts differ for a recovering patient, what to check in the listing, and the booking mistakes to avoid.
Getting around after a procedure
Airport to hotel to clinic, the apps that work for visitors, when a taxi is worth it, and the small preparations that make day two after surgery manageable.
Korean pharmacies and prescriptions
Why the clinic sends you to a separate pharmacy, what you can buy without a prescription, the permit you may need for your own medicine on the way in, and what to check before taking Korean medicine home.
If something goes wrong
#Reading order
- How treatment in Korea works: the sequence from first email to follow-up, and the four decisions that move the total more than the procedure price does.
- Money: reading a quote, paying, insurance and the VAT position for cosmetic work. Read these before you pay a deposit.
- Paperwork and language: visas, interpreters, and what to do if something goes wrong, including the mediation route that exists for foreign patients.
- Stay and getting around: how long to stay, where to stay near the hospital districts, moving around Seoul after a procedure, and how pharmacies and prescriptions work.
Each guide carries its sources and the date each rule or figure was checked. Anything that can change, which in this category is most things, is marked so you can verify it against the official page before relying on it. The trip checklist puts the action items from all of them in the order they happen.