Cosmetic Surgery Emerges as Export Product

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter


When 46-year-old Wah Lee Ling Jessie from Indonesia decided to get a facelift following years of frustration, she flew to Seoul and turned to BK DongYang Plastic Surgery.

“One of my friends had her face fixed here. When I had an online consultation with the clinic’s coordinators, they assured me that everything would be alright,” she said.

Jessie had wrinkles on her eyelids removed and had some body fat injected into her chin to make her look younger.

“I am quite happy following the surgery. I bet my sister will be willing to come here too.”

Medical tourism, which has also promoted sightseeing and shopping, has become increasingly popular here.

According to the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion, the number of foreign visitors who received medical treatment at its 31 member facilities marked 25,000 in 2009, a 56 percent rise from 2008.

One woman, a 76-year-old Mongolian, checked into the Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul for five months and paid 420 million won. Visitors to Areumdaunnara Beauty Clinic paid an average of 950,000 won and according to BK DongYang, its patients spent an average of 5 million won.

Because such patients’ bills are not covered by the Korea state-governed National Health Insurance, the industry is rapidly emerging as a next generation goldmine.

Maeng Jung-ju, head of the Gangnam District Office, told The Korea Times that “I believe our future lies in the services sector, specifically the medical field. It will be a major cash cow.”

Cosmetic surgery is by far the most popular. According to the Gangnam District Office, where 70 percent of plastic surgeons in Seoul are operating, the district saw a 25 percent jump in the number of foreign visitors to its clinics in one year.


Why Korea?

“Koreans are quite good at handling small and delicate operations,” Kim Byung-gun, director of BK Dongyang Clinic, told The Korea Times.

“While Westerners are used to reducing the size of the nose and trying to tidy up facial lines, Koreans are used to injecting fillers, creating double eyelids and other techniques that suit Asian customers’ needs.”

His clinic provides stem cell extract injections for rejuvenation and other state-of-the-art surgery services.

“These are getting increasingly popular and as more new methods are introduced, we will see more needs here, too,” he said.

Taking into account that plastic surgery is the most sought-after field even among talented doctors these days _ only the top 10 percent of the doctors manage to get a Ph.D. for plastic surgery _ statistics show that the industry will bloom even more.

The affordability the procedures here is one of their main attractions. According to the Korea Academy of Medical Sciences, Korean doctors are globally competitive but the medical bills are about 66 percent those of Japanese and 30 to 50 percent of the United States.

Some doctors pick the “Korean wave” as one of the most decisive factors behind the rush of foreign medical tourists to Seoul.

A plastic surgeon performs surgery on a patient. Korean plastic surgeons are considered as the best in Asia.
For Wen Lin Lin, a 26-year-old Chinese who recently had a nose job in Korea, it was natural that she came all the way to Korea. “Song Hye-gyo is my favorite actress. When I decided to alter my face to look like her, there was no other choice than to visit Korean doctors,” she said.

Moreover, the high-end hospitality impressed here. “Hospitals provided me with computer simulation of 3D images ahead of the operation, which was a great help. The doctors spoke Chinese, which gave me a sense of security,” she said.

These days the clinics provide nonstop service from the day of arrival to the departure date. From limousine pick-up service to hotel and restaurant bookings, arranging sightseeing and recommending shopping malls, the hospitals and clinics are providing them with what traveling agencies generally do.

“All these merits have added up to make Korea the leader in the world of cosmetic surgery,” health ministry official Kim Gang-rip said. The government expects 140,000 medical tourists worldwide to visit Korea this year.

According to the BK DongYang promoter Lee Mi-kyung, Asians, especially those from China, Singapore, Indonesia and others, accounted for the majority of medical tourists but many Westerners have also picked Korea as their medical tourist destination.



Clinics Are Ready

Medical clinics are more aggressive than non-profit general hospitals in attracting foreign customers.

ABC Plastic Surgeries in Busan, the largest plastic surgery clinic in the southern port city, is enjoying rows of foreign patients these days. It used to be Japanese tourists who arrived in ferry boats and enjoyed short trips, but these days many Russians and Chinese are visiting the port city.

The hospital invited a number of medical tourism agents from Russia and Japan to help with promotion. “Many of them were quite impressed with the sophistication of our skills. It is going all right,” the hospital spokeswoman said.

Some clinics moved into hotels to attract more lucrative tourists. The Imperial Palace Hotel in southern Seoul and the Paradise Busan Hotel have recently welcomed sets of dermatologists into the hotels. The ambitious win-win plan to entice more patients to hotels and to attract guests to the clinics haven’t shown any visible results yet, but it surely helps enhance the brand image of both parties, a spokeswoman of a clinic said. According to insiders, more clinics are likely to open shops inside hotels.



Hospitals Trying to Catch Up

It is true that large general hospitals are more hesitant to secure foreign patients.

Hospitals can spare only 5 percent of their rooms to foreigners. They also face criticism from non-profit oriented hospitals that they are simply digging for gold instead of caring for the health of their patients.

Therefore, they have maintained a low-key approach by attracting foreign medical tourists by bolstering non-therapeutic but lucrative health checkup centers.

However, things are changing these days.

Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul has started promoting its plastic surgery department alongside its other state-of-the-art facilities. “We do double eyelid surgeries and other procedures. Many people don’t know about it,” the hospital spokesman Ha Tae-kyoung said.

Other large hospitals have also geared up for the move. “Who wouldn’t? We need money,” a general hospital promoter said on condition of anonymity.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr