Korean nationals residing abroad will be able to connect to physicians back at home through an app-based platform and receive a prescription to buy drugs at the local drugstores.

Puzzle AI Consortium received approval for its telemedicine service app from a regulatory sandbox review committee under the Ministry of Science and ICT on Thursday. Following the approval, Puzzle AI Consortium plans to launch its telemedicine service app within a month.

For now, the app’s remote healthcare service is limited to Korean nationals residing overseas on the condition that non-healthcare workers are prohibited from soliciting patients, and a patient medication guide should be given to a guardian when medicines are sought on behalf of a patient.

A regulatory sandbox, a concept that allows small-scale testing of innovations by private firms in a controlled environment on a temporary basis, was introduced to help create new industries and spread convergence services. Other 12 ICT test-bed projects also gained the nod for their services on Thursday.

The ministry has so far passed a total of 124 projects under the regulatory sandbox system since its implementation in January 2019.

The government will make efforts to ensure prompt regulation improvement for innovative projects whose safety and user benefits are confirmed, said Science and ICT Minister Kim Hye-sook.

By Shin Chan-ok, Han Woo-ram and Minu Kim

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