Korea's Elder Care Gap Index Nearly Doubles Since 2008 - Caredoc Answers with a Verifiable Matching Engine, Not Generative AI.

Rapid aging and fragmented services are widening gaps in South Korea’s elder care market
Caredoc’s 2025 Elder Care Gap Index finds that 89% of Korea’s older population - approximately 8.99 million people are underserved by public long term care
Caredoc is advancing "Active Recovery Care" across care

[더파워 최성민 기자] South Korea’s rapid transition into a super-aged society is increasing demand for connected senior care. Yet caregiving, long-term care, in-home care and senior housing remain fragmented, leaving many older adults without seamless support as their health and care needs change over time.

Caredoc’s 2025 Elder Care Gap Index highlights the extent of the problem. According to the report, approximately 8.99 million older Koreans—89 percent of the country’s senior population—were potentially at risk of long-term care gaps.

Caredoc compiles the index periodically from public data to map the structure of Korea’s care gaps and identify priority issues. The overall index reached 197 in 2025, nearly double its level in 2008, when the national long-term care insurance system was first introduced. This rise indicates that the supply of care is failing to keep pace with demand, leaving a growing number of older people with unmet care needs. Adults aged 85 and over, the group with the highest care needs, were found to be the most exposed.

■ Beyond Supply Shortages: Fragmented Services Widen South Korea’s Care Gaps
South Korea’s care gaps stem not only from shortages of care facilities and workers, but also from a fragmented market structure. Caregiving, in-home care and long-term care are provided through different providers and systems. Consequently, users struggle to find services suited to their needs, while coordination across services remains difficult.

The senior care market in South Korea is dominated by small independent providers specializing in specific services. According to a report by the Hana Institute of Finance, individual operators accounted for 87.1% of in-home care facilities and 75.9% of residential care facilities in 2023. This fragmented provider base makes it harder for users to find and coordinate the right services at each stage of care. Limited transparency around caregiver experience and service quality also adds to the burden.

In practice, many people in South Korea spend considerable time and effort finding caregivers and suitable care facilities. When transitioning from hospital-based caregiving to in-home care, or later switching to day care services, they often have to start the search process all over again.

■ How caregivers are matched by evidence, not by generative AI
South Korea’s senior care industry is increasingly using data to identify care gaps and digital technology to address them. A leading example is Caredoc, which began with a personalized caregiver-matching platform and has since grown into a provider of comprehensive services across the entire spectrum of senior care.

Caredoc operates the data-driven Caredoc Platform, which matches users with caregivers in an average of 1.4 hours through a three-step process. It selects the best fit from more than 80,000 verified caregivers. Unlike generative AI, the platform uses a deterministic fully auditable scoring engine based on 22 health and care variables and more than KRW 300 billion in cumulative transaction data. It is accessible via the web without requiring an app download. Its UI/UX uses a two-sided universal design that is easy for both users and caregivers to navigate. Feedback is collected through an intuitive system using emojis, everyday language and a five-level badge system. It also digitizes paper contracts and handwritten records, reducing resource consumption.

A key feature is its data-driven feedback loop. Through its patented “Personalized Caregiving Guide Information Method and System”, the Caredoc Platform provides caregivers with tailored guidance based on each user’s information. Feedback from care logs and user evaluations is then fed back into its empirical data through a data flywheel, refining future matches. As the cycle continues, matching accuracy improves over time.

Another distinctive feature is its Recommended Care Fee, calculated based on factors such as location, the complexity of care required and working conditions. Recognizing that most users are unfamiliar with the caregiving market, Caredoc provides a cost range based on actual market rates. Caregivers who meet the requested conditions can then accept the match. By presenting the same fee range to both users and caregivers, the platform helps reduce information asymmetry.

Because the technology relies on universal indicators applicable to both parties, the system can be adapted for other countries using local data. Caredoc has secured a patent for this technology, titled “Method and Apparatus for Dynamically Suggesting Prices Related to Senior Life Care.”


In fact, Caredoc’s platform model has helped users save up to 20% on caregiving costs when they transition to in-home care. “We designed the platform based on the principle that simple technology enables the best care,” said Jae-byung Park, CEO of Caredoc. “This is not about a one-off match. It is about helping families find the caregiver they actually need, faster than they could anywhere else.”

■ Reaches KRW 300 Billion in Cumulative Transactions, Validating Market Demand
Caredoc has reached KRW 300 billion in cumulative transactions and recorded annual revenue of KRW 15 billion in 2025. The service is used by more than 10,000 customers per month on average. This growth reflects the company’s efforts to address information asymmetry and care gaps based on real user needs. Caredoc is also seeking investment as part of its pre-IPO funding round.

Alongside its core platform Caredoc operates "Facility Finder", which consolidates and provides information on care facilities nationwide. Caredoc is also expanding into in-home care, aging-in-place services and senior housing. Through these services, it aims to improve South Korea’s fragmented care environment and close gaps in healthcare access.

The company is also driving a shift away from custodial, containment-oriented care toward Active Recovery Care, a model anchored in continued residence at home. It launched Carehome, a residential care brand. It also introduced the industry’s first personalized rehabilitation packages, expanding its services into residential care.

Caredoc is also working to improve conditions for care workers. Many care workers in South Korea are middle-aged or older, so the company believes that better jobs for caregivers lead directly to a higher quality of life for seniors. Caredoc continues to train “Care Coordis”(Short for Care Coordinator)', senior care specialists primarily aged 50 and older. It has also operated a training program for professional caregivers specializing in hospital ward care. In late 2025, the company extended its retirement age for all employees to 66, above the statutory standard.

“Starting with a caregiver-matching platform built for South Korea’s care environment, we are working to create a care safety net without isolation and help seniors enjoy a stable later life,” Park said “Building on the operational expertise we have developed in South Korea, which has experienced rapid population aging, we will continue to advance a care platform model that can be scaled and adapted for global markets.” (끝)

최성민 더파워 기자 Sungmin@thepowernews.co.kr