District in Seoul to create special medical tourism zone

The Jung-gu district in Seoul plans to establish a special medical tourism zone where foreign tourists can receive medical treatment, district officials said Tuesday.

The district office submitted to the Small and Medium Businesses Administration an application calling for the designation of 568,714 square meters of land in the district, including Myeong-dong, as a special medical tourism zone, tentatively named "Happy Medical Tourism Special Zone."

To this end, the district plans to carry out 11 projects in four categories - laying the foundation for medical tourism, marketing activities, development of food and establishment of a network, the officials said. Completion is due for 2017.

It also plans to open an Internet website in English, Chinesea and Russian as well as Korean, and set up a medical tourism assistance center, they said.

By Keat Min Woo

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com