A colonoscopy examines the full length of the large intestine with a flexible camera, and is the standard screening test for colorectal cancer and polyps. It is performed under sedation at Korean partner centers, typically alongside a gastroscopy in the same visit.
Under sedation, plus recovery time.
An optical procedure: no imaging radiation.
Share of the eligible population who had a colonoscopy, up from 56.5% in 2023. That jump drove national colorectal screening to a record 74.4%. This is an uptake rate, not a share of people who picked one test over another; the separate preference figure was 66.2%.
KMI Global's Signature program, which offers a colonoscopy as one of two choices on top of its Standard contents.
Hanaro's Silver program, men's price, which lists a colonoscopy with conscious sedation. KMI Global's Signature program at ₩1,000,000 offers a colonoscopy as one of two choices in its second option group.
One week is the earliest an imaging slot can be held, and there is no referral step before it.
English report in your hands in about a week. You also get a consultation on preliminary findings on the day of the screening, before you leave.
Programme contents and prices from each partner centre's own foreigner-facing published list, read 2026-08-05: KMI Global and Hanaro Medical Foundation's English site. Standalone per-test prices are a Korean partner centre's 비급여 (non-covered) posting, the itemised list 의료법 제45조 requires a clinic to publish, read the same day. Scheduling and report turnaround are Meridiko's own operating figures, confirmed 2026-08-06, not a centre's published ones (https://global.kmi.or.kr/examination/foreigner_examination; https://en-mobile.hanaromf.com/program/prog01/prog01_01.jsp), measured 2026-08-05. Dollar figures are converted from each centre's won price at ₩1,342 = $1 (open.er-api.com, 2026-09-13). The won figure is the price; the pairing moves with the rate.
Polyps, which can typically be removed during the same procedure, plus inflammation, diverticulosis and early structural changes in the colon and rectum.
A colonoscopy does not examine the stomach or oesophagus (that is a gastroscopy), and an incomplete bowel preparation can hide small lesions, which is why the prep instructions matter as much as the procedure itself.
Suits: Adults at or past the recommended colorectal-screening age, and anyone with a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps. Korea reached a record 74.4% national colorectal screening rate in 2024, and the reason was colonoscopy specifically: uptake went from 56.5% to 66.4% in a single year. Worth knowing what that rise is and is not. Korea's national programme has offered adults 50 and over an annual faecal occult blood test since 2004, with colonoscopy as the follow-up on a positive result, so the jump is in how many people end up having a colonoscopy rather than a switch of primary test. That matters practically rather than patriotically. A test the local system performs at that volume is one the endoscopy suite is set up for, staffed for, and reading all day.
Should not have it: People with unstable cardiorespiratory conditions not yet assessed, or a suspected bowel perforation. Flag either to your coordinator before booking sedation.
A whole-body MRI does not reliably detect early colonic lesions; a colonoscopy is the specific, sensitive test for the colon, and the one a whole-body protocol does not replace.
Included from the Comprehensive tier up (and so also in Advanced). The Essential tier does not include it. See /pricing/ for what else moves between tiers.
