Korean Plastic Surgery
South Korean Plastic Surgeons Are So Good, People Now Need Certificates To Prove Their Identities
In South Korea — the plastic surgery capital of the world — many patients who go under the knife are leaving the doctor’s office a totally new person… almost literally.
After having a number of procedures done, some patients are so unrecognizable that hospitals and doctor’s offices have started issuing certificates to prove they’re the same person as the now-outdated passport photo suggests.
With some of the most popular procedures being eye enlargements, chin reductions and higher noses, many women from neighboring Asian countries who come to South Korea for plastic surgery need to prove their identity when traveling through immigration control to get back home post-surgery.
These “plastic surgery certificates,” which are said to include a person’s passport number, the name of the hospital where the procedure was performed and the length of their visit to South Korea, have become a necessity for those who alter their appearance so drastically.
Security guards at various airports have reported a lot of confusion when patients present a passport of a person who looks nothing like them.
The plastic surgery epidemic in South Korea is quickly getting out of control, with an estimated one in 77 people undergoing a cosmetic procedure.
photo courtesy KP Surgery