Veterinarians push back on government plans to publish clinic-by-clinic treatment fees
Korean vets held a protest against proposed amendments to the Veterinarians Act that would provide hospital-by-hospital fee disclosures and expanded access to pet medical records.
A cat is examined at an animal clinic in northern Seoul in 2023.NEWS1
Veterinarians are pushing back against government and parliamentary moves to make individual veterinary hospitals publish their treatment fees and hand over medical records.
The Korean Veterinary Medical Association held a rally near National Assembly Station in western Seoul on Wednesday and demanded that the government withdraw the proposed rules. It called them unilateral regulation imposed without adequate consultation with the profession.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs gave public notice on Aug. 6 of an amendment to the enforcement rule that would expand disclosure of major treatment fees from regional statistics to the level of the individual hospital.
An amendment to the Veterinarians Act that spells out an owner's right to inspect and obtain a hospital's records was separately passed by a bill review subcommittee of the National Assembly's agriculture and fisheries committee.
Both moves are in response to a sharp rise in what pet-owning households pay for treatment and to complaints about the wide variance of prices among veterinary hospitals. Households have spent an average of more than 1 million won ($700) on treatment over the past two years, nearly double the 2023 figure.
The association argues that what a hospital actually charges depends on the animal's condition and weight and on whether treatments are given in combination, so a straight price comparison would leave owners with a misleading picture.
A dog looks at treats at Pet Show Korea 2026, a pet industry trade show, at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on July 24.YONHAP
It also warned that aggressive price competition will erode single-veterinarian practices and the network of rural clinics that treat farm animals.
Its sharpest objection concerns prescriptions. The association says only about 20 percent of veterinary medicines currently require one, and that publishing diagnoses and prescription histories would push owners toward buying drugs directly, without a veterinarian involved, which would worsen misuse.
The association called for public animal health insurance and other state funding, along with an overhaul of the rules on owners treating their own animals and on how veterinary drugs are distributed before any disclosure requirement takes effect.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
