Critical care in Japan and Korea. The market of excellence.

Medical services in general are well advanced in Japan and Korea. However, intensive and critical care medicine is still on its way to further developments. One particular problem in both countries is the shortage of positions for intensive care physicians and nurses. Although they are well equipped with therapeutic and monitoring devices, there are a limited number of ICU beds. In Korea, the estimated number of ICUs is 122 or more. In Japan, the number of ICUs is estimated to be between 229 and 944.