Asan Medical Center tops five specialties, Samsung Medical Center leads threeSouth Korean hospitals topped nine of the 10 specialties evaluated in Newsweek’s latest Asia-Pacific hospital rankings, with Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center and Seoul National University Hospital leading multiple categories. Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, southeastern Seoul, is South Korea’s largest hospital, with 2,432 beds and a total floor area of approximately 180,000 square meters. (Asan Medical Center) According to Newsweek’s “Best Specialized Hospitals Asia-Pacific 2026” rankings released Wednesday, Asan Medical Center ranked first in five specialties: cardiology, cardiac surgery, neurology, endocrinology and orthopedics.Among the hospitals included in the evaluation, Asan Medical Center recorded the highest number of first-place rankings. The hospital also ranked second in oncology, pulmonology and gastroenterology, fifth in pediatrics and 12th in neurosurgery, placing within the top five in nine specialties overall.The rankings, compiled by Newsweek in partnership with market research firm Statista, evaluated 925 hospitals across 11 Asia-Pacific countries: South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.Samsung Medical Center ranked first in oncology, pulmonology and gastroenterology. The hospital said it has maintained the top position in oncology and pulmonology for three consecutive years since 2024 and also ranked first in gastroenterology, which was evaluated for the first time this year.In pediatrics, Seoul National University Hospital placed first in the Asia-Pacific region. Samsung Medical Center, located in southern Seoul's Gangnam, first opened in 1994. The hospital ranked first in oncology, pulmonology and gastroenterology. (Samsung Medical Center) Seoul National University Hospital is a general and teaching hospital of Seoul National University's College of Medicine. The Seoul National University Children's Hospital, located in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, ranked first in pediatrics in the Asia-Pacific region. (Seoul National University Hospital) Newsweek said the rankings were based on an online survey of more than 8,000 health care professionals, as well as national health care performance indicators and patient-reported outcome measures.Park Seung-il, president of Asan Medical Center, said the hospital had gained global recognition while leading the treatment of severe diseases.“We will continue to advance our severe-disease-centered treatment system to protect patient safety and provide high-quality medical care,” he told local media.Separately, Asan Medical Center said it placed within the global top 10 in six specialties in Newsweek’s “World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2026” rankings, as the only South Korean hospital to do so.