MRI cost in Korea for foreign patients
What Korean hospitals charge for brain, spine and joint MRI scans, why the price varies by body part, and how it compares to paying out of pocket elsewhere.
5 min read
An MRI is often the single most useful thing a visiting patient can buy in Korea. It is fast to arrange, the price is published, and the figure is a fraction of what the same scan costs out of pocket in the United States.
That is the median across 874 hospitals. For comparison, a self-pay brain MRI in the US commonly runs into four figures in dollars — which is why imaging turns up on so many medical-travel itineraries even when the trip was booked for something else.
Price varies by body part, not by machine
The disclosure separates MRI by the region being scanned. The differences are real and reflect scan time and complexity rather than equipment quality.
| Procedure | Median | Range | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brain MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩175,565 – ₩1,045,000 | 874 |
| Cervical spine MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩1,094,330 | 1015 |
| Thoracic spine MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩965,000 | 950 |
| Lumbar spine MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩1,037,370 | 1016 |
| Knee MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 1021 |
| Shoulder MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 1021 |
| Hip MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 994 |
| Ankle MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩995,000 | 1002 |
| Wrist MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 979 |
| Elbow MRI | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 986 |
Spinal scans are region-specific. If you have lower back pain, the lumbar scan is the one being discussed; a whole-spine study means paying for the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions rather than one scan that covers everything.
Contrast costs more
Some scans require an injected contrast agent, and the hospital images before and after. That is a separate, higher-priced item:
| Procedure | Median | Range | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper limb MRI (non-joint) | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 919 |
| Upper limb MRI with contrast | ₩500,000 $360 | ₩250,000 – ₩1,187,000 | 616 |
| Lower limb MRI (non-joint) | ₩450,000 $320 | ₩120,000 – ₩960,000 | 949 |
| Lower limb MRI with contrast | ₩497,000 $360 | ₩250,000 – ₩1,187,000 | 665 |
Whether you need contrast is a clinical decision, not a budget one. But if a quote is higher than the figures above, contrast is a likely reason and worth asking about directly.
Take the images home
The most practically important thing about buying imaging abroad is leaving with a copy you can hand to a doctor in your own country. Korean hospitals charge a small documented fee for this, and it is trivial compared to repeating the scan at home.
| Procedure | Median | Range | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imaging records on CD | ₩10,000 $7 | ₩1,000 – ₩20,000 | 2958 |
| English-language medical certificate | ₩20,000 $14 | ₩5,000 – ₩50,000 | 2049 |
| Copy of medical records (1 to 5 pages) | ₩1,000 $1 | ₩100 – ₩5,000 | 3782 |
Request the disc and the English-language report before you leave the country. Obtaining them after you have flown home is substantially harder — see the guide to medical certificates.
Ultrasound is the cheaper first step
For a number of questions, ultrasound rather than MRI is the appropriate imaging, and it is markedly cheaper. Thyroid ultrasound in particular is a routine part of Korean health screening.
| Procedure | Median | Range | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thyroid ultrasound | ₩80,000 $58 | ₩10,000 – ₩255,000 | 1259 |
| Carotid Doppler ultrasound | ₩110,000 $79 | ₩20,000 – ₩350,000 | 1105 |
| Soft tissue ultrasound | ₩70,000 $50 | ₩10,000 – ₩250,000 | 1114 |
Where to check a quote
Every figure on this page links to a page listing each hospital that discloses that scan, sorted cheapest first and compared against its own regional median. If a hospital has quoted you a number, the MRI category page is the fastest way to see whether it is ordinary or an outlier.
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.