CNN - Plastic surgery boom as Asians seek 'western' look
VOICE-OVER : Lee Ming Gyung is a picture of childhood grace and poise, but she says not beauty.
What she sees are her small Asian eyes. But that will change tomorrow when this 12-year-old, with
the permission of her mother, gets plastic surgery for more westernized eyes. "If I get the surgery,
my eyes will look bigger," she says.
KYUNG LAH : Do you think think you'll look better after the eye surgery?
LEE MING GYUNG : I'm excited. I think I'll look better than I do now.
VOICE-OVER : She's not alone. Dr. Kim Yung Gun personally performs more than two dozen of these
surgeries a day as head of Seoul's biggest plastic surgery clinic BK Dum Yun.
KYUNG LAH : Looks like every single one is full.
DR KIM YUNG GUN : Yeah. A patient is coming in and out, in and out.
VOICE-OVER : Patients of all ages from middle age to the adolescent like Ming Yung (ph).
KYUNG LAH : How many surgeries are performed per day in this clinic?
DR KIM YUNG GUN : Usually 100.
KYUNG LAH : 100 a day.
VOICE-OVER : It's not just eyelid surgery, but nose reshaping to elevate the nose and facial
contouring to slenderize a typically rounder Asian face.
KYUNG LAH : When patients come in and talk about why they want these types of surgeries, what do
they tell you?
DR KIM YUNG GUN : The Chinese and Korean patients tell me that they want to have some face like
Americans.
KYUNG LAH : There are hundreds of plastic surgery clinics just in this one district of Seoul. It is an
accepted part of Korean cultural, because of that, the history and the technique of the surgeons is
why this place has become the plastic surgery capital of Asia.