Note №34PATIENT RIGHTS
If you are put under general anaesthesia in a Korean medical institution, the operating room is required by law to have a closed-circuit camera in it — and if you ask, in writing, before the operation, the institution must record. It may refuse only on four grounds written into the statute. We read the Medical Service Act and its Enforcement Rule in the original on 21 August 2026. The part most patients get wrong: the recording is not yours to watch.
Korea put a camera in the operating room by statute. Article 38-2 of the Medical Service Act — inserted 24 September 2021, with the implementing rule that makes it workable inserted 22 September 2023 — does two separate things, and the difference between them is where patients lose the right they think they have.
Installing the camera and turning it on are different obligations
Installation is unconditional. Paragraph 1: the founder of a medical institution that performs surgery on a patient who is unconscious, such as under general anaesthesia, shall install a closed-circuit television inside the operating room. No request needed, no exception written in. The text says medical institution, not hospital — so a clinic performing such surgery is inside the obligation.
Recording is on request. Paragraph 2: where the patient or the patient’s guardian requests it, the head of the institution or the medical practitioner shall record the surgery using that camera. And the same sentence closes the escape route: they may not refuse without one of four justifiable grounds —
- emergency surgery where delay would endanger the patient’s life or cause serious harm to body or mind;
- high-risk surgery requiring aggressive measures to save the patient’s life;
- where recording would significantly impair the training purpose of resident physicians at a designated training hospital;
- other grounds equivalent to those above, as prescribed by Ministry of Health and Welfare ordinance.
Nothing about the clinic’s preference, its insurer, or its internal policy is on that list.
Sound is off by default. Paragraph 3: the audio recording function may not be used — unless every data subject, meaning the patient and every medical practitioner taking part, consents.
How the request is actually made
The Enforcement Rule, Article 39-11, turns the right into a procedure — and the procedure is where a foreign patient can lose it by default.
- It is a form, not a conversation. The patient or guardian must complete the prescribed surgery-recording request form (Form 20-2 of the Rule) and submit it to the institution, presenting the requester’s ID or a copy, the patient’s own consent form, and — if the requester is the guardian — a document proving that relationship.
- A guardian cannot override a conscious patient. Where the patient is conscious and has decision-making capacity, a guardian may not request recording against the patient’s wishes.
- The hospital has to tell you the right exists. The institution must make patients aware in advance that such recording is possible — by posting a notice inside the institution, for instance — and must provide the request form to anyone asking.
- A refusal has to be explained before the surgery. If the institution refuses on one of the four statutory grounds, it must explain the specific ground to the requester before the operation, not afterwards.
- The refusal is logged. The institution must keep a request-handling register recording the requester, the content of the request, whether recording took place, and the specific ground for any refusal — and keep it for three years.
The recording is not yours to watch
This is the part that surprises people, and it is worth being blunt about. Paragraph 5 forbids the institution from letting anyone view the footage or providing a copy — including viewing it itself — except in three situations:
- a relevant authority requests it for a criminal investigation, prosecution, or court proceedings;
- the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency requests it, after mediation or arbitration has begun, with the consent of the patient or the patient’s guardian;
- every data subject — the patient and each medical practitioner who took part — consents.
So the camera is not a viewing service. It is an evidence rule. Its practical value shows up only if something goes wrong and you enter a formal process — which, for a foreign patient, most realistically means the free mediation route we wrote about earlier, whose agency is named in the statute above.
Two more numbers matter. Paragraph 9: the footage must be kept for at least 30 days. Paragraph 8: the institution may charge the requester the cost of viewing or providing it, within a range set by the Ministry. Thirty days is not long if you have flown home and are still deciding whether to complain.
What happens to an institution that breaks these rules
Leaking, altering, damaging, or improperly disclosing the footage, or using it for a purpose outside the Act, is a criminal offence: up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to ₩50 million (Article 87-2(2), items 3-2 to 3-4).
Failure to comply with Article 38-2 itself is handled differently — it is listed in Article 63(1), which lets the Minister or the local authority order the institution to correct the violation or restrict use of the facility. We did not find Article 38-2 among the administrative fines listed in Article 92.
What this note does not claim
We read the statute and the rule; we did not audit any institution. Specifically, we did not establish: whether sedation short of general anaesthesia counts as the unconscious state the Article describes — the text says “such as under general anaesthesia” and leaves the boundary to interpretation; how many institutions have actually installed cameras, or what enforcement has looked like; the exact commencement date in the supplementary provisions; the amount the Ministry allows to be charged for viewing; and whether the request form is available in any language other than Korean. Nothing here is legal advice.
We are also not saying Korean operating rooms are unsafe, and this note takes no position on why the provision was enacted. It describes a right that exists in the text and how the text says to use it.
Common questions
Does every Korean clinic have to have a camera in the operating room?
Article 38-2(1) applies to a medical institution that performs surgery on patients who are unconscious, such as under general anaesthesia. Installation there is mandatory and does not depend on any request. An institution that does not perform such surgery is not covered by that paragraph.
Can the clinic refuse to record?
Only on one of four grounds in Article 38-2(2): emergency surgery, high-risk life-saving surgery, significant impairment of resident training at a designated training hospital, or an equivalent ground prescribed by ministerial ordinance. The Enforcement Rule requires the specific ground to be explained before the surgery and entered in a register kept for three years.
Can I watch the video of my own surgery?
Not on request alone. Article 38-2(5) permits viewing or release only for a criminal investigation or court proceedings, for the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency after a mediation or arbitration has started with the patient’s consent, or where every data subject consents — which includes the medical practitioners who took part.
How long is the footage kept?
At least 30 days under Article 38-2(9). Grounds for extending that period are left to ministerial ordinance.
Sources
All provisions read in the original on the National Law Information Center (국가법령정보센터), 21 August 2026.
- Medical Service Act (의료법), Article 38-2 (수술실 내 폐쇄회로 텔레비전의 설치ㆍ운영), Article 63(1), Article 87-2(2), Article 92 — https://www.law.go.kr/법령/의료법
- Enforcement Rule of the Medical Service Act (의료법 시행규칙), Article 39-11 (촬영의 요청 절차 등), inserted 22 September 2023, amended 18 July 2024 — https://www.law.go.kr/법령/의료법시행규칙
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