The Korean Digital Healthcare Market at a Turning Point for Global Competitiveness

I read an interesting article on Hansbiz today about the current state and future prospects of the domestic digital healthcare industry. This sector has seen explosive growth worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic. Personally, I’ve always been curious about Korea’s position in this global trend, and this article helped me paint a more detailed picture.

According to the article, the current size of the domestic digital healthcare market is expected to reach approximately 4.5 trillion KRW by 2025. This represents an 18.7% growth compared to the previous year, surpassing the global market growth rate of 15.2%. Notably, the AI-based diagnostic solutions and wearable healthcare devices sectors are showing remarkable growth. But is such growth sustainable? And how competitive are our domestic companies in the global arena?

First, looking at the major players in Korea, VUNO is achieving significant results in the AI medical imaging analysis sector. Headquartered in Seoul, this company is supplying its AI solutions to over 30 countries worldwide as of November 2025, achieving a 94.2% accuracy rate in chest X-ray analysis. This level is comparable to that of Zebra Medical Vision in the U.S. (based in Tel Aviv) or Siemens Healthineers in Germany. In the medical AI field, accuracy is crucial as it directly relates to life, making these figures highly significant.

Another noteworthy company is Mediwale, which is expanding its business centered around a telemedicine platform. With the surge in demand for telemedicine post-COVID-19, Mediwale’s monthly active users increased from 150,000 in 2023 to 470,000 in 2025, more than tripling. While smaller in scale compared to Teladoc Health in the U.S. (based in New York) or Ping An Good Doctor in China (based in Shenzhen), its growth rate is certainly not lagging.

What is truly intriguing is the advancement of Korean companies in the wearable healthcare device market. Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Watch series captured a 22.1% market share in the global smartwatch market as of the third quarter of 2025, ranking second after the Apple Watch. Particularly in healthcare functions such as blood pressure measurement, ECG monitoring, and blood oxygen level measurement, it demonstrates a level of technological capability almost on par with Apple. I personally believe that the hardware manufacturing capabilities of Korean companies shine in these areas.

Global Competitive Environment and Korea’s Positioning

However, when looking at the global competitive environment, it seems there is still a long way to go. In the U.S., big tech companies like Google Health, Amazon Healthcare, and Microsoft Healthcare Bot are investing massive capital to dominate the market. For instance, Google invested $3.1 billion in the healthcare sector in 2024 and announced plans to increase this to $4 billion by 2025. This is comparable to the entire size of the domestic digital healthcare market.

China is also formidable. Alibaba’s AliHealth recorded $2.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025 alone, and Tencent’s WeChat Healthcare platform surpassed 8.5 million daily active users. The key question is how Korean companies can maintain competitiveness in the face of such economies of scale. But size isn’t everything, right? In terms of technological sophistication, user experience, and collaboration with medical professionals, I believe Korea can be quite competitive.

One of Korea’s strengths is the combination of excellent medical infrastructure and IT technology. The digitalization level of major domestic university hospitals is among the highest globally, and the adoption rate of electronic medical records (EMR) exceeds 95%, higher than the U.S. (89%) or Germany (78%). Solutions developed in such an environment can accurately reflect the needs of actual medical settings. For example, the AI-based emergency room triage system jointly developed by Seoul National University Hospital and VUNO improved patient classification accuracy by 23% compared to existing methods.

Moreover, Korea’s fast 5G network infrastructure is greatly aiding the advancement of digital healthcare. Services like real-time remote monitoring and high-definition medical image transmission can operate smoothly in an already established environment. This is a clear competitive advantage compared to many countries where 4G is still the mainstream. In fact, KT’s 5G-based remote surgery support system has reduced latency to below 10ms, enabling real-time surgical guidance.

Investment Trends and Market Outlook

From an investment perspective, venture capital investment in domestic digital healthcare startups reached 1.2 trillion KRW in 2025, a 34% increase from the previous year. Among these, AI diagnostic solutions accounted for the largest share at 42%, followed by telemedicine platforms at 28%, and wearable devices at 18%. I personally think this investment distribution reflects the actual market needs well.

Notably, there is increasing interest from foreign investors in Korean digital healthcare companies. Japan’s SoftBank invested a total of 45 billion KRW in three domestic AI medical startups this year, and Singapore’s Temasek invested 20 billion KRW in a telemedicine platform company. This can be seen as evidence that Korea’s digital healthcare technology is gaining international recognition.

However, there are also concerns. The overseas expansion of domestic companies is still in its early stages. Even leading companies like VUNO and Mediwale have overseas revenue accounting for only 15-20% of their total. This means their competitiveness in the global market has not been fully tested. In contrast, Israeli medical AI companies have an average overseas revenue share of over 70%, and many U.S. companies start their businesses targeting the global market from the outset.

The regulatory environment also seems to be a crucial variable. Obtaining U.S. FDA or European CE certification remains a high entry barrier, and varying medical regulations across countries make global expansion challenging. Fortunately, the Korean government is aware of these issues and has started supporting up to 70% of the costs for obtaining overseas certifications through the ‘K-Digital Healthcare Global Expansion Support Program’ this year. While we need to see how effective this policy support will be, I think the direction is right.

Looking at the market outlook, the global digital healthcare market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 16.8% to reach $750 billion by 2030. The share of the Asia-Pacific region is expected to expand from the current 28% to 35% by 2030. To fully benefit from this growth, now seems to be the golden time for Korea to secure global competitiveness.

Personally, I believe Korea’s digital healthcare industry undoubtedly has potential. Excellent medical professionals, advanced IT infrastructure, and rapid technology adoption capabilities are clear strengths. However, to survive in global competition, mere technological prowess is not enough; marketing capabilities, capital strength, and above all, a deep understanding of overseas markets are needed. The next few years seem to be a crucial period that will determine the future of Korea’s digital healthcare industry.

This article was written by adding personal opinions and analysis after reading the Untitled article.

Disclaimer: This blog is not a news medium, and the content written reflects the author’s personal views. The responsibility for investment decisions lies with the investor, and no responsibility is taken for investment losses based on the content of this article.