If something goes wrong after treatment in Korea: records, mediation, insurance

Published 17 September 2026 · Last updated 10 October 2026 · 11 min read · By Jae Han

What to do in the first 48 hours, which documents decide everything later, and the formal routes (the hospital, the national mediation agency, and insurance) in the order to use them.

SharePrint

Most treatment goes as planned. This page is for when it does not: an unexpected complication, a result very different from what was agreed, or a bill very different from the quote. The order you do things in matters more than how angry you are.

If you have a medical emergency (heavy bleeding, difficulty breathing, high fever, sudden severe pain) call 119 or go to the nearest emergency room first. Everything else on this page can wait.

#The first 48 hours

1. Go back to the treating clinic and have the problem examined and written into your chart. A complication that was never recorded is very hard to prove later.
2. Request copies of your medical records, consent form, and the itemised receipt. Patients in Korea have a right to their records; there is usually a small copying fee.
3. Photograph the problem daily with dates visible.
4. Keep every message with the clinic and any coordinator or agency. Move conversations to writing if they were verbal.
5. Do not sign anything new (a waiver, a settlement, a 'free revision' agreement) before you understand it in your own language.

Your right to the records: Article 21

Korean law backs you here. Article 21 of the Medical Service Act gives a patient the right to see and get copies of their own records, and the clinic may not refuse without a justifiable reason. Ask for copies of the operation record (sugi girokji, 수술기록지) and your chart before the last visit, and bring your passport, as clinics check photo ID before releasing records. Getting an English translation is a separate request.

Verify before you rely on this: As of 27 September 2026, the Korean government's legal information service (easylaw.go.kr) states that under Article 21 of the Medical Service Act a patient can ask to see or copy their own records, including test images, that a clinic cannot refuse without a legitimate reason, and that an unjustified refusal can be fined up to KRW 5 million. The statute text itself, read on the Korean Law Information Center on 10 October 2026, says the same (link under Sources). Ask for the records in Korean first, because that is what the law entitles you to on the spot; a translation is a service the clinic may offer, charge for, or decline.

From my own visits: Records requests in Korea go through a dedicated desk (often called the medical records or certificate issuance desk), not through the doctor. It is a routine request; staff process it every day and do not need a reason. Doing it while you are still in the country is fast; from abroad it means authorisation forms, proof of identity and weeks of email. At the desk, say 의무기록 사본 발급 (copy of medical records) and list the items: 수술기록지 (operation record), 마취기록지 (anaesthesia record), 동의서 (consent forms) and 진료비 세부내역서 (itemised bill).

#A timeline that keeps your options open

1. Hour 0Decide whether it is an emergency. If it might be, call 119 or go to an emergency room; the 1330 helpline can interpret. Tell the emergency doctors what procedure you had, when and where. The National Emergency Medical Center portal, e-gen.or.kr (in Korean), has search pages for emergency care and for hospitals open on public holidays; 119 can tell you the same by phone.
2. Day 1See the treating clinic, with an interpreter who does not work for the clinic if you can arrange one. Ask for the finding and the proposed plan to be entered in the chart, and ask for a written summary.
3. Day 1-2Collect records: chart, operation record, anaesthesia record, consent forms, before-and-after photographs taken by the clinic, itemised receipt. Start your own dated photo log.
4. Day 2-3If you doubt what you are being told, get an independent opinion at a different hospital (a university hospital's international clinic is the usual route) and keep that record and receipt too.
5. Before you flyPhone the Medical Korea Information Center (1577-7129) and K-medi's counselling line to find out where your case fits. Get any offer from the clinic in writing. Notify your insurer if you have a policy that might respond.
6. Back homeSee your own doctor promptly and ask for a written report. If you proceed formally, foreign patients living abroad can apply to K-medi by email or fax.

Practical note: Changing your flight to stay for treatment of a complication is often the right call medically and the expensive one financially. Ask the clinic in writing who pays for the extra care, and check your visa or visa-free period before extending. The Medical Korea Information Center lists visa consultation among its services, so the same call to 1577-7129 can cover both questions.

#The formal routes, in order

#How K-medi mediation works

K-medi is a public agency created by statute to resolve medical disputes outside court. Counselling is free, by phone, online, post, fax or in person: the line is 1670-2545 inside Korea or +82-2-6210-0080, weekdays 09:00-12:00 and 13:00-18:00. If you decide to apply, the agency's English pages describe the following sequence.

1. You file an application with a description of the accident and your claim. Foreign patients residing in Korea can apply online, by email or by fax; foreign patients living abroad apply by email or fax.
2. K-medi serves the application on the clinic. The clinic has 14 days to say whether it will take part. If it refuses or does not answer, the application is dismissed; this is the main weakness of the route.
3. If the clinic agrees, medical and legal experts appraise the case: they review records, may question both sides, and report to a mediation panel.
4. The panel proposes a settlement or issues a mediation decision. It stands only if both sides accept; if either objects, mediation fails and you are free to sue.
5. An accepted mediation has the same effect as a court settlement, so the clinic cannot simply ignore it.

The Act behind the agency adds two points worth knowing. Where the accident resulted in death, unconsciousness of a month or more, or a serious disability as defined in the Act, mediation starts without needing the clinic's consent. And an application must be made within three years of the day you became aware of the injury and who caused it, and within ten years of the act itself. Those periods are taken from the official English translation of the Act as amended in 2016; ask K-medi whether anything has changed for your situation.

Verify before you rely on this: K-medi states that it decides cases within 90 days of the start of the procedure, 120 at most, against an average it quotes of 26.3 months for a first-instance court case. The application fee is 22,000 won for claims up to 5 million won and rises with the amount claimed: on the agency's examples, 32,000 won for a 10 million won claim, 112,000 for 50 million and 162,000 for 100 million. The fee is refunded in full if the application is dismissed and by half if you withdraw. Figures as published on K-medi's English site on 17 September 2026; confirm before applying.

Documents K-medi asks for

• The mediation application form and a medical accident statement describing what happened and the harm.
• A copy of your ID; for a visitor, the passport.
• A copy of a bank account document, for any payment.
• The signed consent to collection of sensitive personal information.
• If someone applies for you: a power of attorney and proof of the relationship or authority.
• Supporting evidence: medical records, imaging, surgical photographs, receipts for medical expenses, and proof of lost earnings if you claim them.

#Other help: Medical Korea, the Consumer Agency, 1330

• Medical Korea Information Center (1577-7129, daily 09:00-18:00 Korean time; several languages including English, Chinese and Japanese). Its listed services include consultation on complaints about Korean medical institutions, on medical disputes, and support for transferring a case to K-medi. It also takes reports of illegal brokers. For a foreign patient this is the most practical first call.
• Korea Consumer Agency (consumer counselling line 1372). It handles counselling and conciliation on goods and services; if conciliation fails a case can go to the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission. Use it for deposit, refund and contract arguments rather than questions of medical fault.
• 1330 Korea Travel Helpline (+82-2-1330 from a foreign number). Tourist information, interpretation by phone and a tourist complaint service, useful when the immediate problem is language.

Practical note: Medical Korea reports that, as of March 2025, all medical institutions registered to treat foreign patients carry mandatory malpractice liability insurance, a requirement in place since 2016. That only helps if your clinic was registered. Ask for proof of registration before treatment; afterwards, the Medical Korea line can tell you how to check.

Verify before you rely on this: Application procedures, time limits, fees and language support at K-medi and the Korea Consumer Agency change. Check their current guidance, and ask the Medical Korea support service whether interpretation is available for your case.

#Insurance and money

• Ordinary travel insurance usually excludes planned treatment and its complications. If you bought a specific complications policy, notify the insurer early and ask what evidence they need before you leave Korea.
• Keep itemised receipts for every extra cost: corrective treatment, medicine, additional hotel nights, flight changes, interpreter fees.
• If you paid by credit card and the dispute is about a service not provided or a charge you did not agree to, ask your card issuer about its dispute process and its deadline.
• A refund offered in exchange for deleting a review or signing a confidentiality clause is a settlement. Read it as one.

#Common mistakes

• Flying home first and asking for records later.
• Arguing only through a coordinator's chat account, which can be deleted, instead of writing to the clinic itself.
• Posting accusations online before taking legal advice. It can expose you to a defamation complaint, and a public fight makes clinics less willing to settle.
• Accepting a free revision from the same surgeon without an independent opinion on whether revision is advisable, and when.
• Treating dissatisfaction with an aesthetic result as the same thing as a medical accident. Mediation and courts look for a breach of the standard of care or of the duty to explain, not for disappointment.
• Letting months pass. Evidence, memories and legal time limits all run against you.

#Before you go: what makes all this easier

Every route on this page runs on paper that is easiest to obtain before treatment. K-medi's document list asks for the records, the receipts and a statement of what was agreed; the Consumer Agency wants the contract terms; an insurer wants the diagnosis certificate. A patient who arrives with a written plan and leaves with the itemised receipt has most of that file already. Four things settle it.

• A written treatment plan and quote, not just chat messages. The quote is the document a refund argument is measured against.
• A clinic that is identifiable (business registration, doctor's name, Medical Korea registration number), not only a coordinator's phone number. Mediation is served on the institution, and a chat account is not an institution.
• Insurance that explicitly covers complications of elective treatment abroad, which ordinary travel insurance usually does not; the insurance guide linked below explains the difference.
• A stay long enough to reach the first post-operative check in person, so that any complication is recorded in the chart by the treating doctor rather than reported from abroad.

#Common questions

Can a foreigner file a medical malpractice complaint in Korea?

Yes. K-medi's application guidance has separate instructions for foreign patients residing in Korea and for those living abroad, and the Medical Korea Information Center lists support for transferring foreign patients' disputes to K-medi among its services. You can also sue in a Korean court, with a Korean lawyer.

What happens if the clinic refuses K-medi mediation?

In an ordinary case the application is dismissed if the clinic declines or stays silent for 14 days, and the fee is refunded. Your remaining routes are direct negotiation, the Korea Consumer Agency for contract and refund issues, or a lawsuit. Cases involving death, prolonged unconsciousness or serious disability proceed without the clinic's consent.

Can I get a refund if I am unhappy with my plastic surgery result?

There is no automatic right to a refund because a result disappoints. What you can get depends on what was promised in writing, whether risks were explained, and whether care fell below the accepted standard. Many clinics offer revision rather than money. Get the offer in writing and take an independent opinion before agreeing.

How do I get my medical records from a Korean clinic?

Ask at the records or certificate desk with your passport, before you leave the country; Article 21 of the Medical Service Act means the clinic needs a justifiable reason to refuse. Request the full chart, operation and anaesthesia records, consent forms and the itemised bill. From abroad, expect to send a signed authorisation and identity documents; ask the clinic for its exact requirements by email.

Do I need a lawyer in Korea?

Not for K-medi or Consumer Agency procedures, which are designed to be used without one. K-medi does not represent patients in lawsuits; its FAQ points people who need legal representation to the Korea Legal Aid Corporation or a private attorney. For serious harm, an early consultation with a Korean lawyer who handles medical cases is worth the fee.

Who do I call first?

For danger to health, 119. For everything else, the treating clinic, then the Medical Korea line on 1577-7129, which exists for foreign patients and can explain the other routes in your language.

Planning the trip? Tick off the trip checklist — what to get in writing, what to pack and which documents to collect before you fly home — and keep the Korean phrase cards on your phone for taxis and pharmacies.

This site is an information resource, not a medical provider, agency or broker. We do not arrange treatment, refer patients to specific hospitals, or receive commission from clinics for introductions. Nothing here is medical advice — decisions about treatment belong to you and a licensed doctor.

Back to top ↑