2026 Whole-of-Government Policy · Plain-Language Explainer

Wherever you live, whatever you're sick with —
good care for everyone,
delivered on time.

AI Basic Healthcare is Korea's national pledge: from the neighbourhood clinic to the
tertiary hospital, every patient can get the same quality of care — with AI as a partner.

🏥Smarter neighbourhood clinics 🤖AI watches over your health 24/7 🚑Emergencies handled locally 🌏A Korean model exported to the world

📱

Your health datasafely consolidated

→

🤖

AI reviews itand spots warning signs

→

👨‍⚕️

Your local doctordelivers precise care

→

😊

A long,healthy life

In one line

"Whether you're short on money, living in the countryside, or
walking into a clinic for the first time — you get tertiary-hospital-grade care."

Why now?

Korea is ageing fast, and medical costs are climbing even faster.
Rural emergency rooms keep closing, and patients ride the KTX to Seoul.

Left alone, the cost burden falls on households and care gaps fall on the vulnerable.
AI Basic Healthcare is the last card we have to reverse that trend.

What will change?

Today's friction vs. the future we're building

A trip to the doctor — and how it changes.

😣 TodayFriction

✕
Tertiary-hospital visits mean queueing at dawn and months of waiting
✕
Every hospital switch means repeating the same tests
✕
You only go to the doctor after you're already sick
✕
On islands and in remote mountain towns: "There's no doctor here"
✕
One serious illness can break a family's finances (catastrophic medical cost)

😊 After AI Basic HealthcareChanged

✓
Precision care at your neighbourhood clinic, with AI assistance
✓
Your records flow between providers — zero duplicate tests
✓
AI flags warning signs early — prevention, not crisis response
✓
Telehealth and remote consultation: a specialist, anywhere
✓
Earlier detection means lower medical bills

44-61%

Reduction in radiologist workload
with AI assistance

Chen M et al., NPJ Digit Med 2024;7:349
Meta-analysis of human–AI collaboration in imaging (36 studies)

27.2%

Reduction in imaging
read time with AI

Chen M et al., NPJ Digit Med 2024;7:349
Meta-analysis of human–AI collaboration in imaging (36 studies)

24%

Increase in post-discharge medication-error
correction with AI + remote monitoring

McGillion MH et al., BMJ 2021;374:n2209
Post-surgical RCT of 905 patients (PVC-RAM-1)

20%

Increase in cancer detection rate
with AI-assisted breast cancer screening

Lång K et al., Lancet Oncol 2023;24:936-944
MASAI RCT, 80,033 participants

Three pledges from the nation

The core goals of AI Basic Healthcare

No jargon — just the changes citizens will actually feel.

🏔️

🏥

🚑

📡

Where you live shouldn't
decide the care you get

Neighbourhood clinics deliver tertiary-grade reads and diagnoses with AI assistance. Emergencies are handled locally; remote islands and mountain villages connect to specialists by telemedicine.

A country where no one rides the KTX just to see a doctor

⌚

💓

🔔

🛡️

Catch it before it happens —
not after

Your scattered health data is safely consolidated, and AI watches 24/7 for early warning signs. Duplicate tests and duplicate prescriptions disappear; the system shifts toward prevention and ongoing care.

A country where AI warns you before the medical bill hits

🇰🇷

🌏

🤝

🏆

A Korean model
the world follows

Built on a Korean-made sovereign medical foundation model, atop one of the world's most efficient health systems — we complete the Korean AI Basic Healthcare model. We prove it first; the world follows. Korean AI-medical companies grow, and our clinicians set the global standard.

A country whose healthcare becomes the global benchmark

Here's what actually changes

A day in the life of Grandma Kim, living in a Gangwon mountain village

Not science fiction — the near future.

👵🏻

Grandma Bok-Sun Kim, age 78

Lives in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province
Managing hypertension and diabetes
2-hour drive to the nearest tertiary hospital

Before…
She'd feel chest tightness, tell herself "it'll be fine," wait too long, then end up admitted through a tertiary ER.

📱 Step 1 — AI reviews her everyday data Her smartwatch picks up heart-rate and blood-pressure readings that look off. AI nudges her: "Let's get your heart checked."

🏥 Step 2 — Visit to the local clinic, with AI-assisted diagnosis The village health-centre doctor reviews her ECG and X-ray with AI assistance — and delivers a tertiary-grade read right there.

🤝 Step 3 — Tele-consult if needed; tertiary care, on time From her local clinic, she gets a specialist opinion via tele-consultation. When tertiary care is truly necessary, the visit, tests and transfer are scheduled seamlessly — no needless back-and-forth.

💊 Step 4 — Her local clinic owns the long-term care Prescriptions and follow-up stay with her local doctor; AI keeps watching for warning signs. Her family is kept in the loop automatically.

Frequently asked questions

What citizens ask us most

🤖Does AI actually treat patients? Instead of doctors?

No. AI is a tool that helps doctors. Final diagnoses and treatment decisions are made by human physicians. AI's job is to analyse test results quickly and make sure warning signs aren't missed.

🔒Can my health information leak out?

The National Health Data Lakehouse uses three layers of protection:
① Data-exchange standards (HL7 FHIR · KR-CORE) let hospitals share information precisely,
② Strong data governance and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) keep it safely stored, and
③ A dynamic consent system lets you see and approve, in real time, exactly where and how your information is used.

🏥Does this mean everyone has to stop going to big hospitals and go to local clinics instead?

Nothing is mandatory. The core idea of AI Basic Healthcare is: "Every patient should be able to use the clinic or hospital best suited to their condition, conveniently, close to home." AI raises the accuracy of care at neighbourhood clinics and, when needed, hands off smoothly to tertiary hospitals. The result is less travel burden for patients and more focus for big hospitals on the truly severe and emergency cases — a balance that works for everyone.

⚖️If an AI diagnosis is wrong, who is responsible?

The government treats this as one of the most sensitive issues, and progress so far includes:
① Enactment of the Digital Medical Products Act (January 2025) — the world's first law tailored to AI and software medical devices, covering the full lifecycle from approval to GMP quality management to cybersecurity.
② MFDS guideline on approval and review of generative-AI medical devices (January 2025, world's first) — establishing safety- and efficacy-assessment criteria that address data bias, accuracy and ethics.
③ However, the liability-sharing principles between AI developers, hospitals and physicians in actual disputes, and dedicated insurance schemes, are still being shaped jointly by government, academia and industry.

👵Can elderly people use this?

Yes. AI Basic Healthcare doesn't ask elderly patients to operate an app themselves. The core idea is that your local doctor uses AI to deliver better care. From the patient's side, it just feels like "my local doctor got more accurate."

Wherever you live, whatever you're sick with — good care for everyone, delivered on time.