CAIRO - While the dispute between North Korea and South Korea has been occupying the front page of most newspapers, South Korea is working on promoting its tourism, especially medical tourism, all over the world, especially in the Arab and Middle East region. In order to promote this sector, the South Korean Embassy and the Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) organised ‘The Korea Tourism Night', held on Monday, at which the KTO gave a presentation about medical tourism in South Korea, focusing on the Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine. "The clashes between North Korea and South Korea aren't affecting tourism in the South at all," stressed Lee Charm, the Chairman of KTO. "Korea is an impressive country with a long history, making it very attractive for tourists," he added in an interview with The Egyptian Gazette. Lee Charm is the first non-Korean to chair this organisation; he is German but holds Korean nationality. Korea, generally regarded as an industry-orientated country, is also one of the fastest-growing nations in terms of medical tourism, last year welcoming more than 60,000 medical tourists from around the globe. The level of medical expertise in Korea is comparable to that in the US, particularly in the areas of prostate diseases, diabetes and plastic surgery. "Korea has the best hospitals in Asia, with very high technology, no waiting lists and prices everyone can afford, but it is still unknown in the field of medical tourism," Charm told this newspaper. "We need to invite more people, especially from Egypt, to come to Korea. Last year, Korea received only 4,000 Egyptians, while Egypt received around 60,000 Koreans.” During the event, Dr Raimund Royer, the Director of the International Clinic at Jaseng Hospital, gave a presentation about the hospital. Jaseng is mastering and developing the ancient naturopathic treatments of traditional Korean medicine and integrating these treatments with Western medicine practices. "Technological advancements and discoveries have made it possible for Jaseng to build a strong foundation of evidence-based scientific research, proving the value of Oriental medicine and Jaseng's non-surgical treatments," Royer said. Lee Charm said that discussions were underway with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, in order to enhance the co-operation between Egypt and Korea. "Egypt has a very nice weather, an ancient history and good facilities that enable it to compete with the whole world in terms of tourism, but it lacks the marketing and needs more aggressive management policies," he stressed. Addressing the ceremony, Charm said that there were three kinds of energy that everybody can enjoy in Korea. The first is spiritual energy, that comes from Korea's nature with its wonderful mountains, and its healthy food; the second is the enthusiastic joyful energy which comes from the Korean culture, including drama and music; and the third is the emotional energy of its very warm-hearted people, according to Charm.
