Trouble brewing in South Korea's plastic surgery paradise
SEOUL (Reuters) - Kim Bok-soon disliked her nose and fantasized about getting it fixed after learning of the Korean superstition that an upturned nose makes it harder to hold on to riches.
While waiting in a hair salon, she saw a magazine advertisement for a plastic surgery clinic and decided to go for it, despite her family's objections.
In South Korea, where physical perfection is seen as a way to improve the quality of life, including job and marriage prospects, plastic surgery procedures can seem as commonplace as haircuts.
Kim's doctor said he could turn her into a celebrity lookalike, and Kim decided to take the plunge, taking loans and spending 30 million won ($28,000) for 15 surgeries on her face over the course of a day.
When the bandages came off and she looked in the mirror, she knew something had gone horribly wrong. Only later did Kim find out her doctor was not a plastic surgery specialist.
A record from the Seoul central district court shows that Kim's doctor faces a pending criminal case on charges of violating medical law. The case began in 2009 after several patients including Kim reported him to the authorities. The doctor's lawyer turned down Reuters' request for an interview.
The boom in South Korea's $5 billion plastic surgery industry - that's a quarter of the global market according to the country's antitrust watchdog - is facing a backlash, with formal complaints about botched procedures and dodgy doctors doubling in 2013 from a year earlier.
Some plastic surgeons say safety fears could stifle the country's nascent but fast-growing market for medical tourism, especially from China.
Complaints range from unqualified doctors to overly aggressive marketing to "ghost doctors", who stand in for more qualified doctors and perform surgeries on unwitting, anaesthetized patients.
Cha Sang-myun, chairman of the Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons, which represents 1,500 plastic surgeons, is worried about their reputation. Cha and some lawmakers are among those calling for tighter supervision and stricter advertising rules.
"We've got to clean ourselves up," Cha said at his clinic in Seoul's high-end Gangnam district, which is filled with plastic surgery clinics.
"Now, patients from China are coming in the name of plastic surgery tourism but if things go on like this, I don't think they will come in the next few years," he said.
Article Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trouble-brewing-south-koreas-plastic-surgery-paradise-023543421.html
Image Source: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8Pj_w3BjutE-Z_SrmuI9ekk7jiGxNCFcjFFJaJKZVza79jV1S
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Fantasize (verb) ~ to conceive fanciful or extravagant notions, ideas, suppositions, or the like
2. Superstition (noun) ~ a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like
3. Objections (noun) ~ a reason or argument offered in disagreement, opposition, refusal, or disapproval
4. Prospects (noun) ~ anticipation; expectation; a looking forward
5. Turn into (verb phrase) ~ to be changed, transformed, or converted into
6. Plunge (verb) ~ to bring suddenly or forcibly into some condition, situation, etc.
7. Pending (adj.) ~ remaining undecided; awaiting decision or settlement; unfinished
8. Boom (verb) ~ to progress, grow, or flourish vigorously, as a business or a city
9. Backlash (noun) ~ a sudden, forceful backward movement; recoil
10. Botch (verb) ~ to repair badly or clumsily
11. Nascent (adj.) ~ beginning to exist or develop
12. Anaesthetize (adj.) ~ to render insensible to pain by administering an anesthetic
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
1. According to the article, what is the superstition about having an upturned nose? Do you believe it?
2. What did Kim do for her to be able to afford the surgery? What happened to her in the end?
3. If the problems mentioned in the article wouldn’t be solved, what could happen to the plastic surgery tourism in your country?
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is your opinion on plastic surgery?
2. Do you think that age should be a factor in getting this kind of surgery?
3. If ever you would have a surgery, what kind of things would you check first before getting one?
