Korean Plastic Surgery: Which Operation, How Long You Stay, What It Costs

I am Im Young Min, chief director and board-certified plastic surgeon at VG Plastic Surgery in Seoul. I trained and was board-certified at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, and I operate across eyes, nose, facial contouring, anti-ageing, breast and body. Many patients writing from abroad start with the broadest question — what is Korean plastic surgery, and what could it do for me — so this is how I answer it in consultation.

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Im Young Min

Chief Director · Board-certified in Plastic Surgery

• — Ph.D. in Medicine
• — Internship and residency, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital
• — Board-certified plastic surgeon, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital

What Korean plastic surgery usually covers

People search the phrase as if it were one operation. It is not. It is a set of operations that share a way of planning: small changes, decided after measuring what is actually there, so the face still looks like yours.

The table below uses our own surgical data. Times vary by person, and the stay is a minimum, not a target.

For the nose, the 14-day figure applies when bone is cut (osteotomy) or it is a revision; otherwise 7 days is enough. The exact dates are set with you at consultation, because recovery can move them.

Who it suits — and when I tell people to wait

The patients I can help most have a specific, physical complaint. "My double eyelid line keeps fading." "My bridge is low, so my face looks flat from the front." "My cheekbones make my face read as wide." "My jawline has loosened." A complaint like that points to one structure, and one structure can be planned for.

I also say no, or not yet. These are the reasons that come up across every category.

• Facial growth is not yet complete — nose and contouring surgery wait until it is
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or an uncontrolled bleeding, thyroid or cardiovascular disorder
• You cannot stop smoking around the operation — grafts, revisions and breast surgery heal notably worse
• A travel schedule too short to stay for stitch removal and the first follow-up in Korea
• You want the exact face from a celebrity photo — a different structure cannot produce the same shape

This patient's nose, cheekbones and jaw were treated in one surgical plan, an approach that is common in Seoul plastic surgery when the complaint is the whole shape of the face. You can see this combined nose and contouring case with all its angles.

How each operation is planned — the part photos do not show

What sets careful Korean cosmetic surgery apart is not a style of face. It is what gets measured before anyone draws a line on the skin.

Eyes: three measurements first

The same double eyelid line behaves differently depending on eyelid thickness, how much fat sits under the skin and how strong the lifting muscle is. We measure those three first, then decide whether an incision is needed at all.

Nose: breathing inside the same plan

A board-certified ENT specialist on staff assesses the septum, turbinates and nasal valve before surgery. Shape and airway are planned together, so breathing is not traded for height. The detail is in our guide to the Korean nose job.

Contouring, lifts and breast

For facial contouring we check nerve position and bone thickness on CT and leave untouched what does not need cutting. A facelift lifts and fixes the layer under the skin — the SMAS — rather than pulling the skin alone. Breast surgery starts with an ultrasound examination.

Coming to Seoul: your stay, surgery day and follow-up

Plastic surgery in Korea is built around your flight dates. This is the order most stays follow.

1. Arrival: pickup where your booking qualifies, and a partner hotel within walking distance — eight of them, from one to five stars
2. In-person consultation with an interpreter, then a written, itemised quote before you decide
3. Surgery day: arrive 90 minutes before your slot; your surgeon draws the plan on your face and goes through it for 20–30 minutes
4. An anesthesiologist stays with you for the whole operation; then 1–2 hours in the recovery room
5. First check the next morning, which is not optional, then dressings and stitch removal on schedule
6. A final check before you fly, and three months of remote follow-up afterwards

The day-by-day stay planner lays this out against your own dates for each surgery. You leave with your operation record, medical certificate and aftercare instructions in English.

Interpretation is available in nine languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian and Russian. One coordinator handles your case from the first message to the final check, so you never explain your history twice.

What decides the fee

Patients researching south korea plastic surgery often ask for a price before sending a photo. I cannot give one honest number, because the same operation name can mean a different technique, graft or time under anesthesia for two people.

What I can promise is how the fee is set. International patients pay the same surgical fee as Korean patients — no foreigner surcharge and no agency commission built in. Our pricing policy lists what the written quote covers, including anesthesia, interpretation and the three months of remote follow-up.

What I check first in consultation

Because I operate across five of our eight centres, I can tell you when one operation will do the work you expected from two. My training and memberships, including the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, are on my profile page.

Risks, and how we reduce them

Every operation carries risk: swelling that lasts longer than expected, asymmetry while tissue settles, infection, and, with implants, shifting or contracture. Results and recovery vary by individual, and I would rather you hear that from me before surgery than after.

• Anesthesia: board-certified anaesthesiology specialists are on site, and we publish who administers your anaesthesia
• One doctor throughout: the surgeon who consults with you operates and follows you up
• Imaging before surgery: CT for contouring and the nasal airway, ultrasound for the breast
• Sterilisation: instruments and the operating room follow disinfection and sterilisation procedures
• Registration: we are registered by the Mayor of Seoul as a healthcare provider for international patients

More than 7,000 international patients from 53 countries have come to us so far. If you are considering Korean plastic surgery for your nose, the rhinoplasty page sets out each method and our results by concern.