During Chuseok, Should You Go to the ER? A Mild Case Means a 90% Copay

If you get sick during Chuseok, the ER isn't automatically the right call

90% copay for mild cases -- in effect since September 2024

Starting with visits from September 13, 2024, patients classified as KTAS level 4-5 under Korea's emergency severity index -- mild-emergency and non-emergency cases -- pay a 90% copay when they use a regional emergency medical center, specialized emergency center, or regional trauma center. Non-emergency patients (KTAS 5) pay the same 90% even at a local emergency medical center. This rule doesn't relax for holidays, and it's still in force in 2026. As an illustration, if the combined bill for exams and treatment comes to 100,000 won, a visit that would normally carry a much lower standard copay flips to 90,000 won out of pocket the moment it's classified as mild or non-emergency. On top of that, the ER charges a separate emergency management fee regardless of how urgent the visit turns out to be, and that fee is also fully out of pocket for non-emergency cases.

So where should you actually go during the holiday -- check e-gen first

Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare opens a "Holiday Emergency Care" menu on the Emergency Medical Portal, e-gen (www.e-gen.or.kr), every holiday, mapping out which clinics and pharmacies are open near you. Installing the e-gen app ahead of time lets you search by specialty and check real-time ER bed availability. If you're not comfortable online, the same information is available by phone.

129, 119, and 120 do different things

The Health and Welfare Call Center (129) gives you phone information on which local clinics and pharmacies are open. 119 (Emergency Dispatch Center) takes your symptoms over the phone and, if it judges the situation urgent, sends an ambulance and transports you to a hospital matched to your severity. 120 (regional call centers) also provide local on-duty facility information. You don't need to overthink which to call: if breathing is difficult or consciousness is fading, call 119; if you just need to find an open clinic, 129 or e-gen comes first. The same logic applies to medication -- e-gen also lists "holiday-duty pharmacies," so check for an open pharmacy before heading to the ER if you've simply run out of over-the-counter medicine.

Some symptoms still mean the ER, no question

The higher copay exists to reduce the crowding of major hospital ERs by mild and non-emergency patients -- it isn't meant to make anyone wait out a genuine emergency. Chest pain, loss of consciousness, severe difficulty breathing, sudden paralysis or slurred speech, heavy bleeding, or a seizure with high fever -- symptoms that would land in KTAS level 1-3 -- warrant an immediate call to 119 or an ER visit regardless of the holiday. These cases were never subject to the 90% copay to begin with. The higher rate only applies to patients who didn't need the ER in the first place, and if it's unclear which category you're in, the paramedics or the triage nurse on site will re-classify the severity for you.

If the holiday bill turns out to be a real burden

If you ended up at a major hospital during the holiday and the bill is heavy relative to your income, it's worth checking whether you qualify for catastrophic medical expense support. That program sorts eligibility by health insurance premium bracket rather than income, so households with borderline income sometimes still qualify. For situations where verifying income would take too long, there's also support that checks the crisis reason first and pays before verifying. Both programs have their own income/asset thresholds and application deadlines, so eligibility needs to be checked case by case -- and since the relevant offices are closed during the holiday itself, plan to apply at your community center or the National Health Insurance Service after the holiday ends.

If your default is a major hospital instead of your usual clinic

Even outside the holidays, using a tertiary hospital's outpatient department for something as minor as a cold carries a structurally higher copay. Understanding how copay ceilings and refund deadlines actually work is useful background once the holiday bills start coming in, since it's a separate but related system for keeping a bad medical bill from becoming a lasting burden. Emergency room use during the holidays and everyday tertiary hospital use are governed by separate rules, but both point the same direction: the milder your case, the more you pay to jump the line. Right after a holiday, pent-up demand tends to flood local clinics too, so if a visit isn't urgent, booking a few days out rather than on the last day of the holiday is the easier path.

Bottom line

If you get sick during Chuseok, start by gauging how serious it actually is. If breathing is difficult or consciousness is fading -- an unmistakable emergency -- call 119 or go straight to the ER. Otherwise, checking e-gen or calling 129 for an open clinic first saves both money and waiting time. Installing the e-gen app before the holiday starts and noting a few open clinics and pharmacies near home means you won't be scrambling if someone does get sick. Just remember: visiting a regional, specialized, or trauma-center-level ER for a mild or non-emergency complaint means a 90% copay, and that doesn't change just because it's a holiday. This article covers medical-system rules and cost-sharing structure -- it does not replace a diagnosis or an assessment of whether a given case is an emergency. If symptoms are ambiguous, calling 119 for guidance first is the safer move.