S Korea's plastic surgery boom faces backlash

Seoul

KIM Bok Soon disliked her nose and fantasised 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.

Ms Kim's doctor said that he could turn her into a celebrity lookalike, and Ms Kim decided to take the plunge, taking loans and spending 30 million won (S$35,940) for 15 surgical procedures on her face over the course of a day. When the …