South Korean Plastic Surgery

Posted by Daniel Workman Sep 7, 2007

International trade is a mosaic of major market trends and specialty niches. But plastic surgery in South Korea?

Well, yes ... and actually it makes perfect business sense.

What has caught the attention of international tourists is a group of South Korean entertainers who, after cosmetic surgery, radiate with remarkably soft and natural-looking skin.

Those same tourists want the same flat stomachs and rounded cheekbones of the South Korean stars. South Korea has 80 cosmetic surgery clinics in its so-called Beauty Town (Busan). Korean surgeons are renown for their surgical expertise and glamour results, specializing in "double eyelids" created by inserting a crease in the upper lid that make the eyes seem larger.

South Korea's overseas promotion project has enlisted the services of Korean celebrities to further popularize cosmetic procedures, and expects 13,000 tourists to visit one of South Korea's 1,400 esthetic plastic surgeons this year.

The price is right for high-quality Korean surgery. Eyelid operations cost about US$1,100 in Korea compared to $1,700 in Thailand, $1,900 in Japan and $4,700 in the United States.

Just how popular is South Korean cosmetic surgery? Well, even South Korean president Roh Moo Hyun and First Lady Kwon Yang Look have had what they refer to as "corrective surgery" in 2005.

While Stephen Harper and George W may not be the next to step up to the cosmetic surgery plate, South Korea has surely established a profitable niche in the international plastic surgery tourism.