Endoscopy and colonoscopy in Korea
Sedation is the part you pay for as a foreign patient. What the graded sedation fee covers, what it does not, and how it fits into a screening visit.
5 min read
Korea screens for stomach and colon cancer aggressively, and gastroscopy and colonoscopy are routine here in a way they are not in most countries. For a visiting patient that means widely available, well-practised, and reasonably priced.
The disclosed price is not the endoscopy itself, though. It is the sedation.
What is actually disclosed
The endoscopy procedure is largely insurance-covered for Korean residents, which places it outside the non-covered disclosure this site draws on. What is disclosed is the sedation management fee — the “sleep endoscopy” most patients choose.
| Procedure | Median | Range | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Endoscopy sedation, grade III | ₩80,000 $58 | ₩20,000 – ₩398,000 | 920 |
| Endoscopy sedation, grade II | ₩60,000 $43 | ₩20,000 – ₩210,000 | 986 |
| Endoscopy sedation, grade IV | ₩147,670 $110 | ₩23,150 – ₩413,000 | 262 |
| Endoscopy sedation, grade I | ₩70,000 $50 | ₩20,000 – ₩188,000 | 322 |
Grade III is what a routine sedated gastroscopy or colonoscopy is usually billed at. The grades reflect the complexity of managing the sedation, not the quality of it.
Sedated or not
Unsedated endoscopy is available and cheaper. Whether it is tolerable varies enormously by person and by procedure — many people manage a gastroscopy awake and would not repeat a colonoscopy that way.
If you do choose sedation, you cannot drive afterwards and should not travel far alone. Build that into the day.
What to expect around the procedure
- Colonoscopy requires bowel preparation the day before — a prescribed solution and a restricted diet. Plan a quiet day, not a sightseeing one.
- Fasting from the night before for either procedure.
- Results are often immediate for what the camera sees. Anything biopsied takes days, which matters if you are flying home — ask how results will reach you.
- Get the report in English before you leave. See the medical certificate guide.
If it is part of a screening package
Endoscopy is a standard component of Korean comprehensive screening, bundled and priced by each hospital rather than disclosed. The health screening guide covers how to estimate a package from its parts.
Every hospital disclosing a sedation fee is listed on the endoscopy category page.
Figures on this page are read from the published disclosure data at build time, so they match the price pages exactly. This is general information about published prices, not medical advice, and it does not recommend any hospital. Confirm any figure with the hospital before treatment.