When Min Lee, 54, first toured Seoul's Chaum Life Center -- which is spearheading Korea's stem cell banking industry -- she didn't quite know what to make of it.
"It rather looks and sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, with all the talk about stem cell treatments," said Lee, who accompanied her friend to a fitness class at the medical facility and soon found herself touring the luxurious 20,000-square-meter premises in disbelief.
Opened in 2010 and operated by Cha Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in Korea, Chaum has more state-of-the-art technology than a university hospital, but styles itself as a "Life Center."
It has been the subject of significant media attention recently for its glittering facilities, controversial stem cell treatment, customized schools of therapy and hefty membership fees that match its ritzy Cheongdam-dong location.
The deposit for a membership costs ₩170 million (approximately US$152,000, and returned after 10 years) and an additional annual charge of ₩4.5 million (approximately US$4,000).
Memberships, which feature a number of checkups and treatments, including stem cell banking, are sold only to Koreans. International patients are billed according to the specific... Source/Origin >> Read More
