The number of medical tourists to South Korea tumbled nearly 77 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed.

Roughly 117,100 foreign patients visited South Korea last year, down a whopping 76.5 percent from some 497,500 a year earlier, according to data from the local medical community.

The data is based on statistics gathered by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

Seoul Asan Medical Center, one of South Korea‘s five major hospitals, was no exception. The general hospital in southeastern Seoul saw the number of foreign patients tumble 41 percent on-year to some 11,800 last year. (Yonhap)