The figures are often disputed, depending on which journal or website is your source, but according to data released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in 2011, South Korea has the highest number of cosmetic procedures per capita in the world.
It is estimated that one out of every 10 South Koreans has undergone some form of procedure, with the number jumping to a whopping one-in-five for women in the capital Seoul, according to The Atlantic.
Cosmetic surgery is as much of a national obsession as green tea lattes and studying English. The ‘big five’ treatments – eye and nose surgery, liposuction, face-lifts and breast jobs – have been taxable for years, but the government recently announ-ced plans to extend the 10-per-cent levy to cover lip augmentation, body hair removal and chin reduction in 2014, in an effort to shore up welfare support for an aging population.
The plastic ideal is everywhere here, and perhaps best exemplified by a weekly reality TV show called Let Me In (‘Me In’ means ‘beautiful woman’ in Korean). It’s set up in a similar fashion to The X-Factor and the like, except here the ‘contestants’ appear before of a panel of judges who listen studiously about the girl’s life experiences, and critically examine every nuance on their face and body.
A team of three young male surgeons also make an appearance, and go through, in detail, what surgery the girl ‘must’ get to ‘fix her face’. With tissue in hand, she invariably sobs in front of the judges and live audience as purposely unflattering photos of her face, nose, teeth and so on are displayed on our TV screens.
A recent broadcast of Let Me In profiled a woman who had just returned to South Korea after spending considerable time in New York. She informed the judges about her excellent school and university grades, her ability to speak a second language fluently and the experience she gained in marketing, a job she wanted at home.
But she remained unemployed, and the reason is that employers simply did not find her attractive enough for the job. This sorry tale is repeated throughout the country, on a daily basis, for hundreds and thousands of women.
It’s at this point one wonders what her mother must be feeling. Sadly, deep down, we know she fully supports her daughter’s decision to undertake cosmetic surgery, but the girl she brought up for 20 years will walk through the front door completely unrecognisable from the one she left at the clinic one month before.
As the former New York resident returned to the TV studio weeks after a scalpel was put to her face, the judges gasped as this newly ‘beautiful’ girl emerged from a cloud of fake smoke. She was even compared to certain Korean pop starss before the operating surgeons, in their white coats, were congratulated in studio for their excellent work.
Bizarrely, the woman then made a statement in English, calling out the people who had mocked her appearance in the past. It didn’t seem to register with her that her powerful show of force followed thousands of euros worth of facial reconstruction.
Upon returning to her changing room, as the credits rolled across the bottom of the screen, the woman accepted a Skype call from a delirious friend who simply said: “I am so proud of you.” Indeed.
Andrew Farrell works as an English language teacher in Korea.
