K-poppers boost S. Korean cosmetic surgery industry

 By JEANNETTE FRANCIS

SEOUL: According to The Economist, South Korea has the highest rate of cosmetic procedures per capita in the world.

Some reports put the number of South Korean women who have had a cosmetic procedure at one in five. In Seoul’s ritzy Gangnam district (made famous by the sashaying satirist Psy) there’s a strip known as the “beauty belt”, a suburb filled with hundreds of plastic surgery clinics and little else. It has one of the highest concentrations of plastic surgery clinics in the world.

Along this strip is Rhee Se Whan’s clinic, Grand Plastic Surgery. In the past five years, Rhee has seen an increasing number of young people getting surgery. Ninety per cent of the clinic’s clientele are under 30 and of them, half are under 18. 

But what’s interesting is why.

“K-pop stars and Korean celebrities have influenced the younger generation (to get plastic surgery),” says Rhee. “For example, if you look at the before and after photos of K-pop stars you’ll see they have gotten prettier. When people see this change, they want to be pretty as well, they want to look as good as them.”

K-pop is an international phenomenon. The pop stars are known for their catchy tunes, synchronised dance moves, trendsetting fashion and flawless faces; those big eyes, high 

noses and slim jawlines, features not inherently Korean.

They’re also known for the amount of plastic surgery they get. With reference to one particular girl group, I was told their faces changed each time they released a new song.

There are exceptions, but it’s a generally accepted principle that to succeed in the pop industry, you must be beautiful – in other words you must have those aforementioned features that define beauty. And if like 

most Koreans you are not born with these, you can – and should – change them, and many pop stars do.

Rhee said the majority of young people come in to get what is known as double eyelid surgery, where a second eyelid is created to make the eyes look bigger. 

“During school holidays, half the class would come in and get surgery done and when they go back to school, their friends would see that they’ve become prettier, so in the next break you would have the other half of the class coming in,” Rhee said.

As the K-pop phenomenon grows, so too does the plastic surgery industry. – SMH.