Medical Tourism in South Korea: Beware of Illegal Brokers Who Overcharge You

Written by Chelsea Kim. Posted in Medical Tourism Korea

 

They have some of the best street food; the warm, gooey and sweet dessert pancake, hotteok comes to mind. When travellers think of Seoul, they may think of massive lip emporiums, snail mucus face masks, jijimbang (sauna) and endless markets also known as shopping havens, that await them. But Seoul is also well-known for many a traveller for its range of cosmetic surgery options. After all, Seoul is one of the top 3 medical tourism destinations in Asia. Recent plastic surgery statistics show that South Korean plastic surgeons are 1.7 times more experienced than Taiwan, 6.9 times more experienced than Thailand and 17 times more experienced than China. Besides the love for K-POP and Korean media, medical tourism in South Korea is booming in Asia!

These beauty treatments or procedures don’t come cheap, indeed. You may have heard that this is especially the case for foreigners. Does South Korean plastic surgery cost double the amount for foreigners? If you’ve ever wondered that and want an answer, watch the video below:

 

There have been cases of death where the patient had engaged with an illegal cosmetic surgery broker. But that is not all, according to the video, “Prices for operations on foreign customers can be 500% higher than local prices.”

As reported by the Korea Herald in 2013, “foreigners clamor to go under the knife in cosmetic surgery capital” – and as you can see, there are many reasons why it is unwise to get plastic surgery done through an illegal broker.