Plastic Surgery Capital of Asia

CNN has been doing a lot of stories lately on Seoul. Most are pretty forgettable, even if you've never stepped foot in South Korea. For example, one reporter went to various places in the city using her bank card. She used it on the bus, taxi, subway and at restaurants. Let's face it, that's not too far off from many places in the world.

But one story stands out today. It's something that interests me because so many people do it, while so many others think it's stupid. That thing is plastic surgery.

Korea is one of the leading plastic surgery nations. One of the doctors CNN interviewed says his clinic is called the "plastic surgery capital of Asia." The main focus of the story is about the double-eyelid surgery, which is extremely popular here.

The girl they profile is a 12-year-old (so probably really 11 by international standards). She thinks her eyes are ugly, and is excited for the surgery. But her mom says she didn't asked for it. No, no. Mom is MAKING her do it.

A week or so ago there was outrage in America over a mother supposedly giving her young daughter Botox injections. People were livid. Yet, here, it's perfectly acceptable to have an elementary school child get surgery to change her appearance.

Most of the time, in my experience, the surgery makes hardly any difference. It's only noticeable if you have a before and after picture next to each other. Even the, the changes are so subtle they can be hard to spot.

The doctor in the story says:

'"They always tell me they don't like their faces," says Dr Kim, explaining what his patients request prior to surgery. "They want to have some westernized, nice faces. They want to have big eyes like westernized people, high profile, nicer noses."'

An interesting counterpoint is what an Asian American magazine editor gave:

'"They're making a statement about their own race, about where they come from, who they are," says Wong. "They're not doing it on purpose. They're not saying that they think they're inferior looking. They're not saying they're ugly, but that's the message that they're giving nonetheless."'

The story goes on to say that there's even a surgery now that is performed on toddlers to snip a muscle under the tongue, with the belief that it will help them speak English more clearly. Because, you know, everyone who speaks English had their tongue muscles snipped.

I know very few Koreans -- guys and girls -- who haven't had some form of plastic surgery, though it's certainly more rare with my male friends.

Either way, it's an interesting read on a cultural difference. Check out the story here.