Seoul, South Korea – When Alex seemed into the worth distinction between rhinoplasty, generally referred to as a “nostril job”, in the USA and South Korea, she thought that flying to the Asian nation for the surgical procedure was a no brainer.
“$30,000 or $6,000, the selection was clear,” Alex, who requested to not be referred to by her actual title, instructed Al Jazeera, describing her resolution to bear the process within the nation “identified to be primary in cosmetic surgery”.
However lower than a yr later, the entertainer discovered herself grappling with extreme issues.
The implant from her surgical procedure had begun protruding by way of her pores and skin, necessitating emergency elimination again within the US.
“Had I identified what I do know now, I might have by no means accomplished it,” she mentioned, visibly distressed as she described her ongoing battle with issues, together with a crooked nostril and visual gap that required corrective surgical procedure.
“I don’t suppose I’ll ever return to Korea to do surgical procedure due to this.”
South Korea has the very best fee of cosmetic surgery procedures per capita on this planet, in accordance with Knowledgeable Market Analysis, with a market price $1.7bn in 2023.
The sector is anticipated to develop to be price $5.19bn by 2032, pushed by the worldwide reputation of Korean popular culture, or “hallyu”, which has popularised Korean magnificence requirements and fuelled curiosity in Korean beauty procedures worldwide.
Within the capital Seoul, the prosperous district of Gangnam is awash with clinics and hospitals specialising in beauty procedures and surgical procedure, providing every thing from double eyelid surgical procedure to facial contouring, liposuction and breast augmentation.
Whereas additionally they cater to native prospects, worldwide sufferers are a extremely profitable a part of their enterprise.
Final yr, South Korea attracted 605,768 non-resident international sufferers for medical companies, in accordance with the Ministry of Well being and Welfare, with the very best numbers coming from Japan, China, the USA and Thailand.
Cosmetic surgery accounted for 16.8 % of procedures – greater than 114,000 surgical procedures – making it the second most sought-after medical speciality after dermatology.
However beneath the shiny advertising and marketing and viral social media movies luring medical vacationers from all over the world, international sufferers face a large number of boundaries to entry, misinformation and misleading practices, placing their well being in danger, an investigation by Al Jazeera has discovered.
One of many greatest challenges for medical vacationers is the language barrier.
In key markets like China and the US, potential sufferers usually flip to quite a lot of on-line platforms for recommendation, together with open discussion groups, Reddit pages, and even area of interest boards ostensibly devoted to subjects like designer purses.
These murky digital areas are full of nameless customers discussing procedures whereas exchanging clinic and physician suggestions, process ideas, so-called blacklists and translator contacts.
The abundance of unverified info and lack of accountability make it difficult for customers to discern real experiences from doubtlessly biased accounts or covert ads.
They’re additionally a searching floor for unlawful brokers who could make substantial commissions for merely referring shoppers.
Whereas soliciting to international sufferers is authorized, it requires a authorities licence. Eligible firms should have a registered Korean workplace tackle, keep specified capital and carry insurance coverage.
Hospitals face extra stringent necessities to have the ability to legally obtain international sufferers, together with having a minimum of one specialist per medical division and better ranges of medical malpractice insurance coverage.
When posing as a possible affected person on a lot of platforms, Al Jazeera was approached inside minutes by nameless facilitators who admitted they didn’t have the required certification.
In 2020, the risks of the business have been thrust into the highlight when Bonnie Evita Regulation, a heiress to a Hong Kong trend empire, died throughout a liposuction process at a Seoul clinic.
Regulation was reportedly launched to the hospital by way of an unlawful dealer.
The working surgeon, later revealed to be an orthopaedic specialist moderately than a plastic surgeon, was charged with skilled negligence leading to dying. The result of the case was not publicly revealed.
Whereas solely licensed specialists can formally name their practices “cosmetic surgery clinics”, any licensed medical physician in South Korea can legally carry out beauty surgical procedures as Korean medical legislation doesn’t prohibit medical doctors to solely working of their specialised area.
In a newer case, a Chinese language girl died in January shortly after receiving liposuction surgical procedure at a clinic in Gangnam.
The issue of Chinese language beauty surgical procedure sufferers falling sufferer to unscrupulous and unsafe practices has turn out to be so prevalent that the Chinese language embassy in Seoul in January issued a discover warning its residents to “be cautious of promoting and dangers” and “rigorously select middleman businesses”.
The Ministry of Well being and Welfare, by way of the Korea Well being Business Improvement Institute (KHIDI), operates a centre for reporting unlawful soliciting of international sufferers.
The variety of reviews has risen considerably – from 11 circumstances in 2021 to 16 in 2022, to 59 final yr.
An official at KHIDI, talking on situation of anonymity, mentioned that “circumstances dealt with as suspected violations are topic to follow-up measures equivalent to fines and penalties”.
“These confirmed as unlawful solicitation are administratively disposed of by native governments in accordance with the legislation,” the official mentioned.
Nonetheless, when pressed for specifics on what number of circumstances have been really investigated or processed, the official didn’t present figures, solely stating that the quantity would “inevitably be decrease” than the variety of circumstances reported.
Kang Ki-yoon, a lawmaker with South Korea’s ruling Folks Energy Social gathering, final yr raised concern concerning the lack of readability across the dealing with of circumstances, suggesting that regardless of the rise in reviews, there seemed to be little follow-up motion.
“It’s a nationwide shame for foreigners searching for our nation’s world-class medical expertise to fall sufferer to unethical practices by some medical establishments,” Kang mentioned, calling for extra rigorous administration of such circumstances.
Talking on situation of anonymity, a buddy of Regulation, the deceased Hong Kong heiress, expressed concern concerning the dangers related to abroad surgical procedures.
“With social media glamourising Korea’s magnificence business, folks deal with getting surgical procedure in Korea as casually as getting magnificence remedy. They need to pay attention to the risks and the difficulties of searching for recourse if issues come up,” the buddy instructed Al Jazeera.
One other concern is the prevalence of deceptive and doubtlessly unlawful critiques.
Whereas Korean medical promoting legislation prohibits the usage of influencers for testimonial advertising and marketing, the apply is widespread, particularly involving international sufferers, which complicates enforcement.
Al Jazeera reviewed a contract that required a international influencer to provide a number of promotional movies and social media content material a couple of cosmetic surgery clinic in trade without cost surgical procedure, with the clinic dictating particular constructive language for use in posts.
The clinic required that that influencer produce the content material earlier than understanding the ultimate outcomes of the surgical procedure, stipulated that it could assessment all content material earlier than its launch, and included confidentiality phrases that successfully prevented disclosure of the sponsored nature of the surgical procedure.
The influencer delivered the required content material however expressed reluctance to make use of particular constructive language demanded by the hospital as she was not pleased with the outcomes of the surgical procedure.
The hospital claimed that she had not fulfilled her settlement and demanded that she pay for the surgical procedure and different related prices, together with airfare.
Nonetheless, in accordance with correspondence from her lawyer, these threats abruptly ceased when the hospital was reminded concerning the illegality of such practices below medical promoting legal guidelines.
‘Conveyor belt’
The case shouldn’t be remoted.
Al Jazeera spoke to 3 sufferers who claimed they have been supplied reductions in trade for constructive critiques.
Claiming damages for a “medical accident” the place “harm happens to an individual’s life, physique, or property as a result of medical apply of a healthcare supplier” is feasible by way of dispute mediation, however each side must conform to arbitration.
Alternatively, a lawsuit might be filed, however the course of might be prolonged and dear.
Many massive clinics boast on their web sites that they’re “accident-free”.
Such claims are troublesome to confirm, as sufferers who share adverse experiences publicly can face authorized penalties below South Korea’s defamation legal guidelines, which might penalise even statements which might be true.
Alex, the American who travelled to South Korea for a rhinoplasty, mentioned she discovered herself rushed into surgical procedure inside an hour, regardless of reservations and the absence of an in-house translator.
Put up-surgery, she skilled extreme issues, together with disfigurement as a result of implant protruding by way of her pores and skin, necessitating emergency elimination surgical procedure within the US.
“I felt deserted, like I used to be on a conveyor belt,” she mentioned.
“As soon as that they had accomplished the surgical procedure, they didn’t need to cope with me any extra. They stored saying I used to be nonetheless therapeutic once I knew one thing was severely unsuitable.”
Annoyed by insufficient aftercare and unable to safe a refund, Alex wrote a assessment with photographs on the Gangnam Unni app, a preferred cosmetic surgery assessment platform marketed as Unni outdoors South Korea.
Desirous to keep away from adverse publicity, the hospital supplied a full refund, however solely after she agreed to delete the assessment and signal a confidentiality settlement.
The doc, which was reviewed by Al Jazeera, prohibits her from discussing the contents of the settlement and her expertise on any platform, with failure to conform leading to monetary penalties.
On Gangnam Unni, customers can solely type critiques by “current” or “advisable”, with no choice to filter from lowest to highest score, making it troublesome to seek out adverse critiques.
Al Jazeera reached out to Therapeutic Paper, the corporate behind the app, for touch upon their dealing with of adverse critiques and the apply of sufferers being pressured to take away vital suggestions, however obtained no response.
Whereas dangers exist, many sufferers have constructive experiences with cosmetic surgery in South Korea, and efforts are being made to enhance security and transparency within the business.
One such initiative is the Gangnam Medical Tourism Centre, run by the Gangnam district workplace in Seoul.
As a public entity, the centre doesn’t obtain commissions or make referrals, however as an alternative, goals to assist foreigners navigate the system and join with skilled, licensed medical translators.
The centre maintains a listing of vetted medical establishments, offering a further layer of safety for international sufferers searching for dependable care.
As a part of its vetting, the centre verifies that hospitals are registered to deal with international sufferers, have specialists in every division, keep correct malpractice insurance coverage, and possess enough services and workers to deal with emergencies.
The centre additionally conducts on-site inspections of companion establishments and gives coaching for medical interpreters.
An official on the centre emphasised the significance of cautious consideration when searching for medical procedures overseas. “We advise sufferers to prioritise their well being and security above all else.”
“Whereas price is an element, it shouldn’t be the first consideration when selecting a medical supplier or process,” the official instructed Al Jazeera, requesting anonymity.
Jeet Dhindsa, who runs a licensed medical tourism facilitation firm that has additionally helped sufferers who fell prey to unlawful brokers and misleading practices, confused the significance of due diligence. “It’s essential to confirm the credentials of each the medical services and any intermediaries concerned within the course of,” Dhindsa instructed Al Jazeera.
“It’s all the time finest to contact people who find themselves clear about who they’re.”
Reflecting on her expertise, Alex mentioned: “Ensure you have somebody who can advocate for you if issues don’t go as deliberate.”
