[Exclusive] Gangnam Unni Opens Unni Guide Center in Nonhyeon-dong...Full-Scale Consulting for Foreign Patients

From brokerage platform to consulting... Diversifying the business model
Opening an offline consultation center to attract foreign customers directly
"We plan to continue actively expanding our global business segment"

Healingpaper, which operates the medical beauty platform Gangnam Unni, is entering the consulting business in earnest to attract foreign patients. The company plans to establish an offline consultation hub in the Gangnam area of Seoul and expand its business scope beyond its existing online brokerage model, with the aim of actively capturing demand for medical beauty services from visitors to Korea.

According to related industries on the 10th, Healingpaper will open the Unni Guide Center in March in a building near Sinnonhyeon Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The building, which Healingpaper leased from the basement level 1 to the 6th floor above ground in the second half of last year, will house the center on the 1st and 2nd floors. The center will consist of a main hall on the 1st floor and consulting rooms and powder rooms on the 2nd floor. Consultants capable of multilingual counseling and interpreters dedicated to clinics will be stationed there at all times.

Remodeling work is currently underway ahead of the center’s opening. The construction is scheduled to be completed by the 18th, when the Lunar New Year holiday ends. A Healingpaper official said, “The purpose is to connect online and offline so that foreign medical tourists can use Korean medical beauty services more conveniently,” adding, “It is a service that supports the entire process by which foreign visitors to Korea find and consult medical beauty clinics in Korea.”

On the 10th, remodeling work is underway at the building in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where the Eonni Guide Center will move in ahead of its opening. Choi Hokyung, Reporter

To operate the offline center, Healingpaper also launched a separate English-based Unni Guide website earlier this year. Through this website, the company plans to conduct preliminary consultations via chat and video calls and then encourage overseas customers, who are judged to face limitations with online consultation alone, to visit the offline center in Korea.

Customers who visit the center will receive services such as real-time expert evaluation, free detailed skin diagnosis, and complimentary skincare cosmetic kits. The company plans to provide free support for the entire process from treatment and surgery consultation to hospital reservations and schedule management. However, round-trip travel expenses will be borne by the customers, and treatment costs will not go through Healingpaper but will instead be paid directly by the customers to the hospitals. The Unni Guide Center is exclusively for foreigners and domestic customers are excluded from the service.

This business expansion is a continuation of the global business expansion centered on Unni (UNNI), the global platform of Gangnam Unni. In December 2023, Healingpaper launched the English-based global platform Unni and began offering services in 104 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. By the end of 2024, the company is adding a Thai-language version and is also making efforts to target the Southeast Asian market. A Healingpaper official said, “Demand for K-beauty medical services among foreigners is very high, so we plan to continue to aggressively expand our global business.”

Unni Guide homepage. Healing Paper

Demand for medical tourism to Korea is rapidly increasing. According to the 2024 Statistical Analysis Report on the Performance of Attracting Foreign Patients by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the number of foreign patients who visited Korea in 2024 was 1.17 million in terms of actual patients (1.7 million in annual patients), nearly doubling from the previous year and marking an all-time high. Since the foreign patient attraction project was fully launched in 2009, the cumulative number of patients has reached 5.05 million.

By nationality, the largest numbers came from Japan (441,000), China (261,000), the United States (102,000), Taiwan (83,000), and Thailand (38,000). In particular, Japan and Taiwan recorded year-on-year growth rates of 135% and 550%, respectively, making them stand out as countries with especially strong demand for medical tourism to Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.