Not Limited to Investment-type Open Hospitals

The South Korean government will allow the establishment of domestic general hospitals in the Songdo Free Economic Zone.
The South Korean government will allow the establishment of domestic general hospitals in the Songdo Free Economic Zone.

 

It will be possible to establish domestic general hospitals in the Songdo Free Economic Zone. The government held an extended ministerial meeting with Kim Dong-yeon, deputy prime minister and minister of strategy and finance at Nuri Dream Square in Mapo-gu, Seoul on February 7.

Currently, only investment-type open hospitals can open in free economic zones. Controversy that investment-type open hospitals are no different from commercial hospitals has precluded free economic zones from attracting investment-type open hospitals. Over the past ten years, investment-type open hospitals opened in free economic zones.

Therefore, the government has decided not to keep lots designated for the construction of investment-type open hospitals idle but to change the development plan so that Korean general hospitals in demand can move into such sites. "Permitting the establishment of a general hospital in Korea is possible only through a change in notices, so the implementation of the revised plan can start in the first quarter of this year," explained an official of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Songdo is home to Celltrion and Samsung Biologics and global companies such as Merck of Germany are also expected to open their offices in the area. It is expected that Songdo's position as a bio and medical hub will be strengthened when leading Korean general hospitals open in the area.

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