Hit in a Car Accident in Korea? Korean Auto Insurance Covers Korean Medicine Treatment — A Guide for Foreign Residents and Visitors in Busan

LIMDA K-Medical Clinic (경희림다한의원) is on the ground floor of I'PARK Tower 1 in Marine City, Haeundae, Busan, next door to Park Hyatt Busan. If you have been in a traffic accident in Korea — as a resident, an exchange student, someone here for work, or a visitor in a rental car — Korean auto insurance can cover treatment at a Korean medicine clinic, and in most claims the insurer settles the bill with the clinic rather than with you. This page explains what to bring, what happens at the visit, and which parts are decided by the insurer and not by us.

limda k-medical clinic (경희림다한의원) is across from the Suyeong Bay Yachting Center in Marine City, Haeundae, and consultations are by appointment only and one-to-one, with no waiting room.

LIMDA K-Medical Clinic (경희림다한의원) is across from Suyeong Bay Yacht Marina in Marine City. English is spoken directly by the doctor; Japanese or Chinese interpreting can be arranged with 48 hours' notice.

What Korean auto insurance covers at a Korean medicine clinic

Korea runs a published fee schedule for auto-accident treatment, and Korean medicine is inside it. That means acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, cupping, moxibustion, Chuna manual therapy and herbal decoctions are billable to the auto insurer when they are given for injuries from the accident. This is a national system, not a clinic policy, and your nationality or visa status does not change it.

Two things follow from that. First, you do not need Korean national health insurance to be treated for a traffic accident — an auto-insurance claim runs on a separate track. Second, the clinic bills the insurer directly, so in a claim handled under the other driver's liability cover there is normally nothing for you to pay us at the counter.

The one number you need

It is the accident receipt number (사고접수번호). The sequence is short. The accident is reported to the insurance company, usually by the driver at fault or by the rental company. The insurer issues a receipt number. You tell us your name and that number, and we bill the insurer from there.

If you do not have the number yet, bring whatever you have — the police report reference, the other driver's insurer name, the rental agreement — and we will tell you what is still missing.

If you were driving a rental car

Rental cars in Korea carry compulsory liability insurance, and many visitors also take the optional cover offered at the counter. If you were injured in a rental car, the claim usually goes through the rental company's insurer. Ask the rental company to report it and to give you the receipt number. Do this before you leave Busan if you can — reporting from abroad afterwards is slower.

What a first visit looks like

We start with the accident itself: when it happened, where you were sitting, whether you were wearing a seatbelt, which direction the impact came from, and what you felt in the first hour. Then we check how far your neck, shoulders and lower back move and where the movement stops. If you have already been to a hospital and have X-ray or CT results, bring them — they tell us what we do not have to worry about.

Treatment is usually acupuncture with LIMDA AcuNap, our name for the twenty-minute rest in a darkened room that follows needle placement, together with cupping or pharmacopuncture where it fits. Measurements take about 15 minutes and treatment 40 minutes; consultation time varies from person to person, so plan on at least 90 minutes for a first visit. We are appointment-only.

Why it often starts on the second or third day

A low-speed collision can leave the neck and upper back feeling almost normal on the day and stiff the next morning. That pattern is common enough that Korean auto insurance expects it, which is why treatment does not have to begin on the day of the accident. If you are already back in your own country by then, tell us before you leave and we will make sure your records are in a form your own doctor can read.

What the insurer decides, and what we do not do

Fault ratio, the scope of cover, how long treatment is authorised and anything to do with a settlement are decided by the insurance company, not by the clinic. We do not advise on settlement amounts and we do not make claims about what a claim is worth. What we do is treat the injury, keep the records, and issue a medical certificate or treatment record when you ask for one, in English on request.

When a hospital comes first

Loss of consciousness, a severe or worsening headache, vomiting, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg, or pain that wakes you at night should be seen at a hospital emergency department before any Korean medicine treatment. Korean medicine works alongside that, not instead of it.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading An English-speaking Korean medicine clinic in Busan — what to expect → What LIMDA AcuNap is — why most people fall asleep during treatment → Staying in Haeundae — the clinic your concierge can walk you to → Pulse diagnosis and constitution analysis — what we read before we treat →

Written by Dr. Kim Chunglim, Representative Director, limda k-medical clinic (경희림다한의원) · Doctor of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Korean Medicine

limda k-medical clinic (경희림다한의원) 1F, No. 104·105, iPark T1, 38 Marine City 2-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan (next to Park Hyatt Busan) Phone / WhatsApp +82-10-7925-6248 Hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–19:00 · Sat 09:00–17:00 · Closed Sundays · public holidays

Originally published by limda k-medical clinic (경희림다한의원) on 2026-09-28 at limda.co.kr/journal/car-accident-foreigner-en