Cataract surgery in Korea: one eye at a time, lens choices and how long to stay

Published 17 September 2026 · Last updated 27 September 2026 · 11 min read · By Jae Han

Why the two eyes are usually done on separate days and what that does to a travel plan, how the choice between a monofocal and a multifocal lens drives the bill, the follow-up visits, and what Korea's published price data says about multifocal lenses.

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#A short operation with a long calendar

Cataract surgery replaces the eye's clouded natural lens with a clear artificial one. The NHS gives the operating time as 20 to 45 minutes, under local anaesthetic, and you leave the same day. The US National Eye Institute says about nine in ten people see better afterwards.

What makes it awkward for a visitor is the spacing. Most people who need one eye done need the other too, the two are normally done on separate days, and each eye has its own checks. This page is written mainly for families planning the trip for an older parent.

#One eye at a time, and the gap between them

The NHS treats the two eyes on separate days, so that the first eye is seeing adequately before the second is touched. The exact gap is the surgeon's call.

A gap of one to two weeks is within normal practice, and that is what makes a single trip possible. Some centres offer both eyes on one day for selected patients. It is not the pattern the NHS or the AAO describe for cataracts, and an older patient far from home is not the obvious person to choose it.

#A both-eyes schedule in one trip

1. Before you flySend the latest eye report, a full medication list and a summary of general health. If the clinic wants any medicine adjusted, let the prescribing doctor at home make that decision.
2. Day 1–2Examination with dilated pupils, and the measurements that set the lens power. Lens choice is discussed and the quote is written. Allow a rest day after a long flight first.
3. Day 2–3First eye. The AAO says you may be asked not to eat solid food for six hours beforehand. Numbing drops or an injection, sometimes a relaxant. A shield goes on, and someone takes the patient back to the hotel.
4. The next dayFirst check, which the AAO says most ophthalmologists want the day after surgery: pressure and vision are tested and the drop schedule is explained.
5. About a week after the first eyeThe one-week review the AAO describes. If the surgeon is satisfied, the second eye follows that day or the next, with its own check the morning after.
6. About a week after the second eyeReview of the second eye, then the flight home.
7. Back homeDrops for about four weeks per eye, whatever check the clinic asks a local eye doctor to do, and a glasses test once vision has settled; the AAO suggests waiting two to three weeks.

The planning figure follows from the AAO's own follow-up pattern, in which most surgeons want to see the eye the day after and again about a week later. For one eye that is a rest day, the examination, surgery, the next-day check and the one-week review: about 8–9 nights. For both eyes the same sequence runs twice, with the second eye placed at the first eye's one-week review: about 14–16 nights. If the surgeon prefers a longer gap, the alternatives are a stay of around three weeks or two shorter trips. An AAO ophthalmologist's published answer is that waiting even a year for the second eye carries no medical risk.

Practical note: For an older patient, choose the hotel by distance to the clinic: there are five or six visits, several with a shield on or pupils dilated. A companion should attend every appointment, both for the journey and because a drop schedule with several bottles is easy to confuse. Ask the clinic to write it out as a chart.

#Lens choice is the main cost driver

The operation is much the same whatever lens goes in. The lens is where the bill diverges. The AAO describes the main types:

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists puts the trade-off in one sentence: all multifocal lenses bring more optical side effects than monofocal ones, and all give more freedom from glasses. Korea's own evidence agency, NECA, reported in November 2023 that distance vision was equally good with either type and near vision better with multifocals, while noting that international guidelines associate multifocals with more glare, halos and reduced contrast. It is an optional upgrade: nobody needs one to be rid of a cataract, and for someone who drives at night or is content with reading glasses it may be the wrong choice.

#What Korea's published price data says, and how a visitor's quote differs

Within Korea's national health insurance, cataract surgery with a monofocal lens is covered. Multifocal lenses are not, and because they are a non-covered item, institutions must report what they charge and HIRA publishes it.

Verify before you rely on this: These figures are as of the September 2024 disclosure, are for the multifocal lens item rather than the whole operation, and are what institutions reported charging Korean patients. A visitor without Korean national health insurance pays privately for everything, including the surgery and a monofocal lens that would be covered for an insured resident, and a clinic may price international patients differently. A parent who lives in Korea and is enrolled in national health insurance is in a different position from a visitor: ask the hospital's billing desk which applies. Travel insurance does not normally pay for planned surgery or its complications; see /guide/travel-vs-medical-insurance-korea.

Verify before you rely on this: For a parent who is insured in Korea: as of 27 September 2026, the government's policy news service (korea.kr) states that lens (cataract) surgery is one of seven operations billed under the fixed-fee diagnosis-related group system (포괄수가제), compulsory at clinics and hospitals from July 2012, and later at general hospitals. Under it the insured patient pays a set amount for the covered operation, whatever the individual services used; a non-covered multifocal lens is charged on top. None of this applies to a visitor paying privately.

A visitor's quote is therefore built differently from a resident's bill: everything is a private line, and the lens is the line that moves. The published multifocal figures above are a benchmark for that one item, not for the operation, and how to read the rest of a Korean quote line by line is set out at /guide/how-to-read-a-korean-clinic-quote.

Two lines deserve a question before the deposit. The first is the toric upgrade, which is a separate lens with a separate price and is only worth it where the examination shows astigmatism worth correcting. The second is the later laser treatment for a clouded capsule, which the National Eye Institute describes as a known follow-on: it will almost certainly be done at home, so it is a cost to plan for rather than one the Korean quote will cover.

Whichever lens is chosen, ask for the model name. Lenses sold in Korea need product approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and its medical device portal (emedi.mfds.go.kr, in Korean) lists each approved product with its approval number, date, status and company. Keep that record with the lens card: a surgeon at home will need the model and power if the other eye is done later or the lens ever has to be replaced.

#Sunglasses, drops and no bathhouse: the two weeks after each eye

The AAO's recovery guidance is the source for most of the table: no bending below the waist for the first 48 hours, very light exercise such as walking from the day after surgery, activities such as cycling, running and golf after 7 to 10 days, and two weeks out of the water. It also says vision takes two to three weeks to settle for most patients, and that someone who had a strong distance prescription may notice a marked imbalance between the eyes until the second one is done, which is one more reason to finish both eyes on the same trip where the surgeon agrees. The NHS adds that the drops usually continue for about four weeks per eye, so the second eye's course will still be running on the flight home and for weeks afterwards. For a Korea trip the practical reading is that sightseeing between visits is fine in sunglasses and on foot, and that the jjimjilbang belongs before the first operation, not between the two.

#Who is told to wait, or steered to a simpler lens

• People whose cataract is not yet interfering with daily life. The NHS says surgery is not always needed straight away
• Anyone whose general health is unsettled, such as poorly controlled blood sugar or blood pressure. The clinic may ask for a letter from the doctor at home
• Anyone on medicines that affect the operation. The AAO says you may be asked to stop some beforehand, so declare everything
• For multifocal lenses: surgeons commonly hesitate where there is other eye disease, a lot of night driving, or a low tolerance for glare
• Patients who cannot lie flat and still for half an hour should say so in advance

#Nine questions to put to the surgeon on the patient's behalf

• Does the cataract explain the level of vision, or is something else contributing?
• What gap between the two eyes do you recommend for this patient, and can it be done in one stay?
• Which lens do you suggest, and what would night vision and reading be like with it?
• Is there anything in the examination that argues against a multifocal lens?
• What is the price per eye with a monofocal lens, and with the lens you are recommending?
• Who operates, and what anaesthetic or sedation do you plan given the patient's age and health?
• After the second eye, which visit is the one that clears the patient to fly, and which drops continue on the plane?
• Which medicines should be continued on the day of surgery?
• Will you give us the lens model and power, and the operation record, in English?

The NHS lists sudden new floaters, flashes of light, a dark curtain or shadow across the vision, or sudden blurring as possible signs of a detached retina that need urgent help. The AAO adds loss of vision, eye pain, and nausea or vomiting. On the trip that means the clinic the same day; at home it means an emergency eye service, not the next routine appointment.

#Common questions

Should the second eye wait until we are home?

It can. An AAO ophthalmologist's published answer is that waiting even a year for the second eye carries no medical risk, so two trips, or a second operation at home, are both open. The argument for finishing on one trip is practical: the AAO notes that someone with a strong distance prescription may see a marked imbalance between the eyes until the second is done, and a second trip is a second set of flights and hotel nights for an older patient.

Can both eyes be done on the same day?

Usually not. The NHS treats the two eyes on separate days, and the AAO describes the second eye as routinely a week or more after the first. Some centres do offer it; it is not the usual pattern in the guidance cited here.

When can you fly after cataract surgery?

An AAO ophthalmologist's published answer is that there is generally no restriction on air travel after cataract surgery in an otherwise healthy eye. The constraint is follow-up: most surgeons want to see the eye the day after and again about a week later, so plan the flight around those visits and clear the date with the surgeon.

Is a multifocal lens worth it?

It depends on what the patient minds more: reading glasses, or halos around headlights. Distance vision is comparable either way. Exchanging a lens afterwards is a second operation, so a patient who is unsure is usually better served by the simpler lens.

Can a cataract come back?

Not the cataract itself, but the membrane behind the new lens can turn cloudy weeks, months or years later. The National Eye Institute calls this a secondary cataract and says it is fixed with a laser treatment.

Work out the whole trip: open the total cost calculator with 14 nights filled in. That is a planning default, not a schedule — replace it with the dates your own clinic gives you.

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.

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