It ranked second in cervical cancer survival rate at 76.8%, significantly ahead of Germany's 64.5% or the U.S. It had the OECD's highest colorectal cancer survival rate at 72.8%, significantly ahead of Denmark's 55.5% or the UK's 54.5%. The quality of South Korean healthcare has been ranked as being among the world's best. As of 2006, about 96.3% of South Korea's total population is under the National Health Insurance Program (57.7% employee insured, 38.6% self-employed insured) while the remaining 3.7% of the population is covered by the Medical Aid Program. In 2000, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS Korean: 국민건강보험 RR: Gukmin Geongang Boheom), was founded to combine all health insurances into a single national health insurer.

Coverage would continue to expand, and in a mere 12 years, in 1989, national health insurance (NHI) extended to the entire country, providing universal health care for all citizens. Insurance would then proceed to be provided for government workers in 1979 and self-employed individuals in 1981. President Park Chung-Hee also mandated employee medical insurance in firms of 500 or more employees and introduced the Medical Aid Program which provides medical services for low-income citizens.

Then in 1977, the law was revised to make health insurance mandatory. This allowed companies to provide voluntary health insurance to its employees. In December of 1963, South Korea implemented their first health insurance law: the Medical Insurance Act.

Due to the success it received, the Minnesota Project is accredited with pushing Korea's healthcare industry into what it is today. It also increased public knowledge of proper sanitation and organized hospitals by the department. This project familiarized South Korean health professionals with medical methodology and cultivated a new wave of health leaders. To help Korea get back on its feet, the University of Minnesota and Seoul National University launched the Minnesota Project from 1955 to 1961. After the Korean War ended in 1953, South Korea's medical infrastructure and healthcare system needed attention.

Is total system care free