Growing Pressure for an AI Transition Inside and Outside the Laboratory
The field of Korean medicine has now moved beyond preserving traditional knowledge and has entered a full-scale phase of reorganizing clinical and literature information into machine-readable formats. Research institutions are presenting the establishment of an AI Korean Medicine Hub and the overhaul of data governance as core tasks, but the lack of sufficient AI and digital budgets for Korean medicine to support them has put both speed and sustainability to the test.
This trend is also intertwined with changes in the research environment. As PBS is being phased out this year, there is more room to reduce the burden of winning short-term projects and focus on building long-term infrastructure. At the same time, how stably the field can secure AI talent and continue standardization work will become a variable that determines competitiveness.
Management Standards Shift from Relaxation to Greater Precision
In manufacturing and distribution, there is a notable move not toward deregulation but toward redesigning rules to better fit on-the-ground conditions. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety sought to improve manufacturing efficiency by specifying usage standards and inspection methods for raw herbal materials purchased directly from cultivation sites such as farms. On the other hand, cases that exposed operational problems skewed more toward dispensing and sales than treatment have further highlighted the need for government certification for external herbal dispensaries.
Behind this reorganization is also the accumulated impact of misconduct by some medical institutions. The bust of an insurance fraud scheme involving 109 fake inpatients and a hospital expansion case involving 17.6 billion won borrowed and not repaid show that if discussions about the growth of the Korean medicine industry do not go hand in hand with mechanisms for restoring trust, the entire market may end up paying the price.
Competition for Leadership Over Standards and Overseas Expansion
On the international stage, the question of who sets terminology and rules first is becoming an issue that can reshape the industrial landscape. With China already taking the lead on 71 international standards, Korea is increasingly aware that standard names and classification systems are directly tied to export competitiveness. At the same time, it is broadening new routes of entry through the export of education and systems, as seen in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan.
This means Korean medicine is no longer confined to a domestic service industry and is beginning to move as a package industry that includes standards and workforce training systems. Ultimately, if it falls behind in the standards race, it may have the technology and products but still have to borrow others’ language to explain them. Conversely, taking the lead in cooperative channels makes subsequent market entry much easier.
How Healing Experiences Are Connecting with Local Economies
The scope of Korean medicine is also expanding beyond the clinic. In Seoul, tourism product development is being pursued based on an agreement to promote Korean medical tourism and wellness tourism. In Andong, efforts are underway to connect traditional health-preservation concepts to a stay-based industry through a policy forum on Andong’s wellness strategy based on Hwarinsimbang. Dongdaemun has already begun creating experiential streets for nights and weekends centered on resources from its designation as an excellent wellness tourism destination.
This expansion is the result of multiple challenges meeting at one point, including a super-aged society, growing interest in health, and responses to regional decline. However, as its reach widens into tourism and industry, Korean medicine will need to prove effectiveness, safety, and program expertise together if it is to become a sustainable local asset rather than merely a symbolic resource.