Visitors try out KT's smart digital healthcare service during the World IT Show at the COEX convention center in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of KT

By Baek Byung-yeul

LG Electronics, KT, Naver, Kakao and other Korean companies are foraying into the digital healthcare business ― including telemedicine ― as the importance of healthcare has been highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, company officials said Wednesday.

The officials said that companies are rushing into this business because the digitalization of healthcare is clearly seen as a lucrative opportunity for them, with the development of related technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis.

"Providing customized services to customers has become important in the healthcare business. In particular, IT companies with data processing and analysis technologies are actively entering this market," an official from a local telecommunications company said, requesting anonymity.

Data showed that the digital healthcare market will increase rapidly with the development of data processing technology. The Korea International Trade Association said that the global digital healthcare market, which was at the scale of $106.3 billion in 2019, is expected to grow sixfold to 639.4 billion by 2026.

LG Electronics expressed its willingness to pursue the digital healthcare business, as the company has added the manufacture and sale of medical devices to its articles of association. Since 2020, the company has released a series of digital healthcare gadgets, such as the Pra.L Medihair that supports hair growth and slows down male pattern balding using lasers and LED lights.

Local internet portal giant Naver is using its own hospital as a test bed for the digital healthcare business. At its office building in Gyeonggi Province, there is a hospital serving its employees.

When treating employees, the hospital uses a type of AI technology called Clova Healthcare to record medical examinations. Using the technology, patients can see the results of past examinations at a glance, while the program recommends other medical tests.

Choi Soo-yeon, the CEO of the company, told reporters on April 13 that its own hospital has doctors specializing in various fields to care for the health of the hospital's employees.

"We want to use it as a test bed for new healthcare technology. We are creating various solutions, such as preliminary interview and health examination analysis technologies," Choi said.

Another big tech firm here, Kakao, is also preparing to enter the digital healthcare business. The company already established a subsidiary for the business in December 2021 and appointed Hwang Hee, a professor of pediatrics at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, as the head.

Based on Kakao's digital capabilities and user service experience, the healthcare subsidiary plans to offer health management services to clients.

Telecommunications companies are also showing enthusiasm for the digital healthcare business as part of their efforts to find new opportunities.

Among the three major mobile carriers here, KT is probably the most active in this sector. The company recently signed an agreement with Hanoi Medical University in Vietnam to provide pilot telemedicine services for chronically ill patients. By launching the pilot program before the end of this year, the Korean company aims to expand its digital healthcare business in Southeast Asia.

Ko Hun-seok, a project manager at KT's Digital and Bio Health Business Department, said the company forged a partnership with a Vietnamese hospital to improve its capabilities in the telemedicine sector, as certain telemedicine services are prohibited in Korea due to regulations.

"Some overseas digital healthcare companies are just passing the Korean market due to regulations on telemedicine. Unlike Korea, Vietnam has no regulations on additional services such as drug prescriptions and delivery," he said.

KT also invested $5 million in the U.S.-based electroceuticals company, NeuroSigma, to develop digital drug products jointly. Electroceuticals are?a category of therapeutic drugs that treat ailments by stimulating nerves with electrical impulses.

SK Telecom spun off its healthcare business division in 2020 and established a subsidiary called Invites Healthcare. LG Uplus has cooperated with other healthcare companies to establish a healthcare management platform.