Korean Clinic Contracts: What to Know

수술동의서 (susul donguiseo — surgical consent form) is the document most patients sign without reading carefully enough. In Korea, it is issued in Korean and covers your rights, your surgeon’s obligations, and your clinic’s revision policy. As an international patient, understanding what you are signing matters more than the language barrier might suggest — and the tools to bridge that gap exist.

What a Korean Surgery Consent Form Must Include

The 수술동의서 (susul donguiseo) is a legally defined document under Korean medical law. At minimum, it must contain:

1. The specific procedure scope. Not just “코 수술” (nose surgery) but the techniques planned — open vs closed rhinoplasty, osteotomy, cartilage graft type. If the description is vague, the document does not adequately define what was consented to.

2. The operating surgeon’s name and licence number. This is the single most important element for international patients, because it creates a documented record of who was supposed to perform your procedure. A consent form that names only the clinic or a generic “surgeon” provides no protection against ghost surgery.

3. The anaesthesia type and administration plan. Local anaesthetic only, IV sedation, or general anaesthesia — and who administers it. In accredited Korean facilities, a separate anaesthesiologist should be present for any procedure under general anaesthesia. If the form does not specify, ask.

4. Complication disclosure. A section listing the known risks of the procedure — ideally with approximate likelihood ranges or severity descriptions. You do not need to read Korean to verify this section exists; ask the coordinator to translate the complication list specifically.

5. Revision policy. The most practically important clause for international patients. What does the clinic commit to if the result is inadequate — free revision within a window, a discounted revision, or nothing? This must be in writing on the signed document.

Handling Korean-Only Documents as an International Patient

Korean clinics are not legally required to provide consent forms in English — they are operating within their domestic regulatory framework. However, internationally-oriented clinics (particularly KHIDI-registered facilities that routinely serve foreign patients) typically offer bilingual forms or have English-translation protocols in place.

If your clinic provides Korean-only documents, there are three practical approaches:

• Request a bilingual version in advance. Email the clinic before your trip and ask specifically whether a bilingual consent form is available. Most clinics that work with international patients have one.
• Request coordinator translation of specific clauses. Ask your coordinator or patient manager to translate — in front of you, verbally — the clauses covering: procedure scope (what techniques are planned), the surgeon’s name and registration number, the complication disclosure list, and the revision policy. Take written notes.
• Use a qualified medical interpreter. For major procedures (facelift, jaw surgery, breast augmentation), hiring a Korean-English medical interpreter for the consultation and consent process is a meaningful investment. Medical interpreters are not translators of convenience — they understand clinical terminology and can flag translation ambiguities.

Do not sign a document you cannot understand in any meaningful portion, unless you have taken one of the above steps. A signed document you could not read is not informed consent by any standard.

What ‘Guarantee’ Language in Contracts Actually Means

Result guarantee language — 결과 보장 (gyeolgwa bojang) — appears in Korean clinic marketing materials and occasionally in consent forms. It is marketing language, not a legal commitment.

Korean medical law explicitly prohibits guarantees of aesthetic surgical outcomes. The Ministry of Health and Welfare regards such language as potentially misleading. When it appears in a contract, it is typically inserted by marketing staff rather than by legal counsel and has no enforceable meaning — Korean courts have consistently rejected claims based on aesthetic result guarantees.

What this means in practice: if a clinic’s pitch centres on a guaranteed result, that is a red flag about the clinic’s marketing culture rather than evidence of a legal commitment you can rely on. Direct your evaluation to verifiable elements: the surgeon’s KSPRS certification, the clinic’s KHIDI registration, the revision policy in writing, and the before/after portfolio at 12 months — not at 6 weeks post-op.

Deposit Agreements: The Most Important Clause

The deposit agreement (계약서 or 예약금 환불 정책) is separate from the surgical consent form and governs what happens to your money before you arrive. This document is the most directly legally actionable thing you will sign with a Korean clinic, because it determines whether you recover your deposit if circumstances change.

The refund clause must specify:

• The deposit amount
• The conditions under which the deposit is fully refundable
• The cancellation deadline for partial vs full refund
• The timeline for refund processing (how many business days)
• What happens if cancellation is due to a documented medical reason

If this clause is in Korean only, have it translated by your coordinator before transferring any funds. If the clinic cannot provide a translated version of the refund clause, limit your deposit to the minimum required (₩200,000–500,000) until you have a version you can read. Never transfer a large deposit (₩1M+) based solely on verbal assurances of refundability.

Contract Red Flags to Watch For

Five patterns in Korean clinic paperwork that warrant either clarification or reconsidering the clinic entirely:

1. Consent form does not name the specific surgeon. The most serious red flag. If the form names only the clinic, the legal protection against ghost surgery is significantly weakened.
2. No English translation offered or available for any clauses. Internationally-oriented clinics have bilingual materials; a clinic that cannot produce any translated content for international patients is not well-equipped to serve you.
3. No written revision policy — verbal assurances only. If the clinic will not put its revision commitment in writing, that commitment does not exist.
4. Pressure to sign same-day without time to review. Legitimate clinics expect international patients to request time to read documents and will accommodate this without pressure.
5. Deposit requested via wire to a personal bank account rather than a clinic business account. Legitimate clinic deposits go to a corporate account with a registered business name. A personal account number is a significant warning sign.