Parents who give their daughters double eyelid surgery when they finish college. This is the obsession with beauty that has unleashed national alarm in South Korea: "Appearance is a must"

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In July 2022, a

37-year-old nurse died of a

brain hemorrhage in one of Seoul's largest hospitals. She collapsed while she was on duty, but she could not receive critical treatment because

there was no neurosurgeon on duty at the time.

The event sparked a

great national debate

over the shortage of doctors specialized in life care: more and more are moving into the lucrative field of

plastic surgery.

A week ago,

the Chinese embassy in Seoul

published a statement warning its citizens about

the dangers of performing a cosmetic touch-up in South Korea.

"Many foreigners come to undergo cosmetic surgeries, and some people have been involved in medical disputes and surgical problems. There have even

been deaths,"

read the embassy note, released just after news of

the death of a Chinese woman

after undergoing

three liposuctions

at a clinic in Seoul.

South Korea, favorite destination for beauty tourism

South Korea has long gained international fame as the world capital of

'beauty tourism'.

It is the media label given to a country that attracts a lot of health tourism, especially from neighboring

China and the United States.

The authorities do not waste the push: the Ministry of Health announced last year that immigration procedures (visas and residence permits) would be adjusted to

attract more than 700,000 medical tourists in 2027,

of which

more than 15%

would seek to undergo

Cosmetic surgeries.

According to data from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), South Korea has

the highest number of cosmetic surgeons per capita

than anywhere else on the planet (2,718 in 2022),

ahead of the United States and Brazil,

which it also surpasses in

the number of annual plastic surgeries.

The reason for the aesthetics boom in South Korea

The root of the boom in these operations is the great local demand thanks to the influence of

K-pop

and

K-dramas.

Many fans, especially

young women,

are obsessed with looking like their idols.

25% of Korean women aged 19 to 29

(and 31% of those aged 30 to 39) have undergone some form of plastic surgery, according to estimates from the World Population Review database.

A 2020 survey conducted by the Gallup Korea research institute indicated that a third of Korean women between the ages of 19 and 39 have undergone some type of cosmetic surgery, and that 66% of single respondents said they would undergo the procedure. operating room to

"improve their chances on the marriage market."

This industry in Korea is valued at almost

four billion dollars,

representing 25% of the global market. There is so much supply that prices are becoming more and more competitive. In Gangnam, a district of Seoul that has earned the reputation of being the national epicenter of this beauty tourism, there are many clinics that

offer Botox for less than 30,000 won,

which in exchange barely reaches

20 euros.

South Korean media have reported that market saturation is also pushing some clinics to opt for

new and controversial treatments

that are not yet regulated in other countries.

The strict beauty standards in South Korea

"Beauty standards are very high in Korea.

There is a lot of pressure to look perfect according to local canons.

A typically Caucasian aesthetic prevails,

such as double eyelids, lighter hair and a very thin body," underlines a study from the University from Miami published by researchers

Kathy Lin and Vaishali Raval.

In Seoul there are surgeons who offer discounts to recent graduates and

parents who pay for double eyelid surgeries for their daughters

as a gift after finishing university.

"In South Korea, beauty goes beyond the skin. It is a must.

Meeting a minimum appearance requirement is considered good manners.

If you undergo plastic surgery to fit in, you will not only look good, but "

It is also seen as

a matter of respect for others in your community,"

explains journalist

Elise Hu,

who landed as a correspondent in Seoul in 2014 and last year published a book ('Lessons in Appearance and Culture in the Capital of K- Beauty') in which he reviews

the great social impact of the rigid beauty standards in the Asian country.

For her book, Hu interviewed hundreds of South Korean girls and women (aged 7 to 73) about

their beauty ideals,

concluding that

the country's massive obsession

with beauty in culture is considered normal and natural. .

Cosmetic surgery in South Korea, a historical issue

Leem So-yeon,

a researcher at Dong-A University in the city of Busan, who completed her doctoral thesis on

the history of plastic surgery in South Korea,

explains that the first operations came to reconstruct

the faces of those injured

during the Korean War (1950-1953).

"But shortly after the war, an American doctor,

DH Millard,

popularized what he called

disorientalizing surgeries,

meaning that the first plastic surgeries were aimed primarily at making

patients look more Western.

Until the 1980s and 1990, that was the goal of plastic surgery," explains So-yeon. "But all that changed as South Korean pop culture evolved and

captured the attention of young audiences."

• beauty