The global wellness market is heading toward the $10 trillion mark.
According to the Global Wellness Institute, the world wellness economy was valued at approximately $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach around $9.8 trillion by 2029.
The question is: what does Korea bring to this enormous market?
I believe we already possess something extraordinary.
Korean Buddhism has long cultivated a culture of meditation, Seon practice, nature-based retreat and self-reflection. Combined with temple stays, temple cuisine, forests and coastlines, healthcare, tourism, food and culture, these elements can form a K-Wellness offering that no other country can replicate.
In 2025, temple stay participants reached a record 349,219 — including 55,515 foreign visitors.
One figure stands out: 2.5 percent of participants identified as having no religious affiliation. People are not visiting temples for religious reasons alone. They are seeking a temporary escape from the complexity of daily life — a place to rest, meditate and reflect.
That, I believe, is precisely where K-Wellness holds its greatest potential for the world.
At the 11th South and Southeast Asian Studies on Religion international conference held in Laos last month, overseas scholars showed strong interest in Korean Buddhism and temple stays. Several expressed a desire to visit Korea and experience them firsthand, and proposals emerged to host a related international conference in Korea.
I have also been working to translate this potential into concrete international partnerships.
In March, I helped broker memorandums of understanding between Hwaeomsa Temple and Delhi University and between Haedong Yonggungsa Temple and Delhi University, covering wellness center establishment and research cooperation. I also facilitated an MOU between Dongguk University and Delhi University.
I have also engaged with Patanjali, Jiva Ayurveda and Kaivalyadhama — leading yoga and Ayurveda companies and institutions in India — to explore connecting Korean meditation and Seon practice with Indian yoga and Ayurveda.
The time has come to develop these individual connections into a single ecosystem. What is needed is an international K-Wellness platform that integrates Korea's Buddhism, nature, healthcare, tourism, food and culture with research, education and industry — one that universities, companies and professionals from around the world can join. Regionally, dedicated hubs are needed to put this vision into practice and validate it. At the national level, Korea must establish K-Wellness standards and a brand it can share with the world.
The goal of K-Wellness must go beyond attracting one more foreign tourist. It should make Korea a destination where people from around the world come not only for physical health, but to reflect on themselves and restore their lives. That is the K-Wellness I envision.
K-pop and K-drama have demonstrated Korea's cultural power to the world. The culture of nature, practice and reflection that Korea has accumulated over centuries can likewise offer new value to people's lives everywhere.
My long-term dream is to make Korea the World Capital of Wellness.
As the global wellness market moves toward the $10 trillion mark, now is the time to begin the conversation about making K-Wellness a new global asset for Korea.
realbighead@heraldcorp.com
