America has long been known for its fascination with plastic surgery, with tabloids and gossip sites constantly chattering about celebrity procedures and the nation spending an estimated $12 billion on cosmetic enhancements in the previous year. However, there is one foreign city that takes the practice to even greater extremes. That city is Seoul, South Korea, a global plastic surgery mecca where approximately 7.5 million people have traveled to undergo procedures. The city is home to an entire district filled with plastic surgery clinics, a testament to its prominence in the industry.
In South Korea, the influence of “Gangnam Style” and K – pop culture has seeped into the nation’s beauty standards. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, a staggering one in five South Korean women has had cosmetic work done, a stark contrast to about one in 20 American women. Korean women often strive to mimic the doll – like features of K – pop stars seen in music videos and groups such as Girls Generation. Nineteen – year – old Christina Lim is one of these individuals. For Lim, plastic surgery is considered “a normal thing.” She noted that her friends would often go on vacation and return with a new appearance. Lim, who occasionally appears as a translator on Korean TV and dreams of making it a full – time career, feels intense pressure to transform her physical appearance. She has received numerous negative comments about her looks, including remarks about her weight, and believes that she lacks the ideal figure and face. As a result, she sought surgeries to slim her jaw and reshape her nose. “I guess everyone wants to look like K – Pop idols,” she said, listing the various beauty standards that Korean women are expected to meet. Lim also expressed concern that the pursuit of these idealized looks was erasing a sense of “Koreanness,” as the streets were filled with people who all resembled one another.
It’s not just South Korean women who are drawn to Seoul’s plastic surgery scene. People from around the world travel to the city for its expert surgeons who specialize in Asian features and competitive pricing. Jessica Choi, a 33 – year – old property manager from Los Angeles, made the 6,000 – mile journey to Seoul for her own plastic surgery transformation. Choi had been self – conscious about her eyes since childhood, having been teased for her “Asian eyes.” She believed that Korean surgeons would be better equipped to achieve the results she desired. Choi hoped to improve on previous surgeries she had in the United States and undergo a series of new procedures, including forehead reshaping, eye extension, nose and chin reshaping, and lip injections. She also noted the significant cost difference, with procedures in South Korea costing anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 or $5,000, compared to $8,000 for a similar procedure in the U.S. Additionally, Choi’s motivations for the surgeries extended beyond aesthetics; she claimed that she had been in an abusive marriage and saw the procedures as a way to reinvent herself.
However, the road to a new appearance was far from easy for both Lim and Choi. In the immediate aftermath of their surgeries, they endured excruciating pain. Lim described the pain as a knife cutting through her bones, and she struggled with the side effects of the procedures, such as drooling and having cotton in her nose. She vowed never to go through it again, calling it a nightmare. Choi also felt intense regret, comparing the pain to what she imagined childbirth to be like and feeling as if she had “sinned.” But as the days passed and the pain subsided, their perspectives began to change. Three months after their surgeries, both women had a newfound appreciation for their transformations. Lim, though still in pain, was more accepting of her looks, stating that she was happy with her new face and that the experience had been worth it, albeit with a cautionary word for her friends. Choi, on the other hand, was overjoyed with the results. She felt more feminine, confident, and believed that the surgeries had been a reflection of the internal transformation she had undergone. For her, the pain had been a small price to pay for a new outlook on life.
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