Malaysians Flock to Gangnam-gu Famous for Plastic Surgery in Korea

Written by Chelsea Kim. Posted in Korean Plastic Surgery

Ah, South Korea, one of the top 3 medical tourism destinations in Asia. The culture embraces everything beauty and body modification related, from selling snail mucus masks to providing jaw-shaving surgery. How obsessed or unhealthy these pursuits are? We can’t know that, but we do know that many flock to Gangnam-gu famous for plastic surgery in Korea. The statistics are unlikely to lie.

In 2012, The Korea Herald Industry Development Institute or KHID, collated the data and found that 32,503 tourists from China had travelled to South Korea for cosmetic surgery.

While Chinese tourists are said to be the largest group to enter the country for South Korea plastic surgery, the trendy destination lures Malaysians as well, with an average of 15 to 20 Malaysian patients being served in established hospitals or clinics; this average figure was reported by The Sun Daily, Malaysia’s first free daily newspaper.

You have solo travellers who are said to be the more conservative Malaysians, then there are those who are more open with their intentions and would join cosmetic surgery tours. For the South Korea plastic surgery experience, both groups are willing to spend tens of thousands of ringgit for anything ranging from a double eyelid surgery to more extreme forms.

It is said that most of them spend between the range of RM 15,000 and RM 30,000 to reshape and contour their facial features. It’s no secret that the culture’s K-POP sensation with its pretty ‘flower’ boys, petite and pretty faced women are not only well-liked for their music and performance by fans around the world, especially Asia, but many fans also desire for their looks.