Rep. Park Yong-gap said, “There is a need to foster national university hospitals for complete cancer treatment in the region.”

Rep. Park Yong-gap said, “There is a need to foster national university hospitals for complete cancer treatment in the region.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Go Yoo-seon = It has been pointed out that the self-satisfaction rate for cancer surgery is low in most regions of the country except Seoul, Daegu, and Busan, making the problem of 'commercial treatment' for cancer treatment a serious problem.

On the 28th, Assemblyman Park Yong-gap (Democratic Party of Korea) of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee analyzed data on the 'self-satisfaction rate for top 10 cancer surgeries by city and province' received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Corporation. As a result, the average self-satisfaction rate for top 10 cancer surgeries, including colon cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, and liver cancer, from 2021 to 2025 was 93.4% in Seoul, 81.6% in Daegu, and 74.7% in Busan. It was the highest ranking.

In comparison, Gyeongbuk had the lowest satisfaction rate at 8.6%, Sejong had 13.9%, Chungbuk had 29.4%, Gwangju had 36.7%, and Chungnam had only 36.9%.

Looking at each region, the self-satisfaction rate for cancer surgery in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon) was 71.8%, while it was 39.2% in the Honam region (Gwangju, Jeonnam) and 35.3% in the central region (Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong, and South Chungcheong).

Separately, among those who received cancer treatment at the so-called 'big five hospitals', including Seoul National University Hospital, Samsung Seoul Hospital, Asan Medical Center, Severance Hospital, and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, the proportion of patients from non-metropolitan areas all exceeded 30%.

In particular, at one hospital, of the 146,537 patients receiving cancer treatment in 2025, 74,944 patients were from the metropolitan area and 71,593 (48.9%) were from the non-metropolitan area, with half of the patients being 'clinicians in Seoul'.

Representative Park Yong-gap said, "Patients are choosing to receive treatment at hospitals in the metropolitan area with abundant surgical experience and cutting-edge equipment, but this is putting a physical and financial burden on patients and their families." He pointed out, "There is a need for the government to support the establishment of a regional cancer treatment base centered on national university hospitals and promote the construction of cancer hospitals in the central region, where the self-satisfaction rate for teenage cancer surgery is low."