(123rf)
(123rf)

Koreans living in affluent Seoul districts live longer than their counterparts in Korea's rural regions, largely due to growing inequalities in health and medical service infrastructure, new data reveals.

According to data from the National Assembly Research Service on Thursday, residents of Seocho-gu, one of the wealthiest districts in southern Seoul, enjoy an average life expectancy of 90.11 years. In stark contrast, people in Yeongdeok-gun, a rural county in North Gyeongsang Province, have a life expectancy of just 77.12 years — a staggering gap of nearly 13 years.

The analysis from the parliamentary body attributed the discrepancy to the disproportionate concentration of doctors and medical facilities in Greater Seoul, which includes Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The NARS data revealed that there are 211.5 doctors per 100,000 people in the capital region, substantially more than the 169.1 per 100,000 for the rest of the country.

Nearly 66 percent of intern and resident doctors across the country were working at hospitals in Seoul and surrounding areas as of March, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare data shared by Rep. Kim Sun-min of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party.

The disparity in medical staff is even more profound in "essential medical treatment," which refers to care that, if delayed, greatly affects the patient's life and health. This generally includes treatments related to brain, heart, cancer, and intensive care.

About 1.86 doctors in essential medical care worked in Greater Seoul in 2024, according to data from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs revealed in August. This far exceeded the 0.46 per 1,000 recorded for the rest of the country.

Greater Seoul also leads in 'healthy life expectancy'

Residents of the capital region not only enjoy a longer lifespan, but a longer "healthy life expectancy" as well. The World Health Organization defines healthy life expectancy, or HALE, as the "average number of years that a person can expect to live in 'full health' by taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and injury.

As of 2021, eight of Korea's top 10 regions in terms of HALE were located either in Seoul or Gyeonggi Province, according to data from the Korea Health Promotion Institute revealed in May. Topping the list was Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province with a HALE of 74.22 healthy years for its residents, followed by Bundang-gu (74.18) and Suji-gu (74.08) of the same province.

Seoul's Seocho-gu (73.66), Gangnam-gu (73.65) and Songpa-gu (72.83) all made the top 10, ranking fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively.

In contrast, nine of the bottom 10 regions in terms of HALE were located outside of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province or Incheon. In the bottom two spots were residents of Yeongdo-gu and Jung-gu in Busan, which recorded a HALE of 64.68 years and 64.99 years, respectively.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com