The chiseled features -- can Korea’s gene pool really have produced the perfection that graces TV screens all over Asia without the help of the country’s otherwise so very busy army of plastic surgeons? The Chosun Ilbo listens to the rumor mill to discover just how natural the Korean Wave is.
Kim Tae-hee

Kim Tae-hee hit the big time when she was still in high school in Ulsan. She attended a nationally renowned school that brought together top students from local middle schools, yet even there the actress was able to stay on top of her class for the entire three years. And her looks have not changed since then: they made her the object of desire among the boys of all the surrounding schools. One rumor circulating about the actress at that time was that she studied for free at a private tutoring college. According to the rumor, her presence there was thought to attract so much business from male students that the institute waived the fee.
Ko So-young

Ko So-young has been a great beauty since her school days. So haughty, yet so pure -- no wonder the tongues are wagging. The rumor is that when she left home to head to school of a morning, a line of expensive cars lined up in front of her house driven by men who yearned for the privilege to chauffeur her to school.

Kim Hee-seon

Kim Hee-seon is a doll; and, would you believe, she has always looked like this.

Lee Young-ae

Lee Yong-ae spearheads the Korean Wave. Childhood pictures and photos of young Young-ae in hanbok from her school days can be found all over the Internet. Devoted Netizens can attest, therefore, that no surgeon’s knife was needed to improve her.

Jeon Ji-hyun

Sexy Jeon Ji-hyun also remains unaltered by science since her school days.

Kim Ah-jung

A picture of Kim Ah-jung at the age of 20 has recently been circulating online, from an interview where she confessed to her dream of becoming a model. There is the body, there is the face, already perfect.

Han Ga-in

Han Ga-in appeared on a TV quiz show when she was a high-school student, and she was also captured in TV footage of interviews with high-school students. Her looks needed no improvement. The story of how entertainment bigwigs spotted her in the news clip and immediately went to her school to offer her a part is already legendary.

◇Song Hye-gyo

Song Hye-gyo also started out in entertainment while at high school. “She was active in show business when she was in the first year of high school, and she appeared on a TV show in the third year, so she wasn’t able to attend class often,” a teacher recalls. “But with her cheerful character, she mixed well with her friends and was always in a bright mood.” Needless to say her looks are said to be entirely nature’s work.

...Ok. Point of this is?

A thread like this could easily be made for Chinese stars/Indian stars/Japanese stars as well.

I think the point is that Chinese/Indian/Japanese stars aren't criticized worldwide for en masse resorting to plastic surgery. So this is a reply to the criticism that Korean stars are all "fake".

Korean press is a rather responsive democracy. Leaves no stones unturned... seriously.

Some of these people look quite average before they turned stars except for maybe Kim Tae hee. Han Ga-In looked like a man.

thanks for that useless commentary. thats why makeup exists.

i think its a bad screenshot but her highschool photo is here. on the top right corner

why....... michael jackson....??? agh!!!!!!!!!!!

Fake or Real i don't care... The story is good... They portray it good... what can you ask for more...
people who go after looks just want them get naked..GETS..

plasic surgery in korea is kindergarten stuff compared to this:

Because people keep saying that Korean celebrities..........oh, this is an old thread.
Oh well, we can continue to talk about this here.

This girl is so not real. Which is ironic considering the movie that made her a star lol.

http://english.chosun.com/media/photo/news...06060005_06.jpg

I still don't see what is wrong with minor plastic surgery.
Are you guys jealous or what?

There is nothing wrong with a little plastic surgery. What is possibly wrong is a society that thinks that your natural looks are never good enough. Judging from this and other threads, I doubt we can have a decent conversation about this phenomenon in Korea especially without people getting all defensive.

So what about plastic surgery. If a person wants to get a bigger nose, or double eyelids, or a woman wants bigger titties, then it's up to them.

Don't judge a country by the rate of plastic surgery.

As a matter of fact, the USA has more people getting plastic surgery than in S Korea alone. Even Japanese are flocking to S Korea for cheaper plastic surgery. So it's not like Koreans are the only ones getting plastic surgery.

Again, this isn\\\'t even about plastic surgery per se. This is about other underlying issues that impact certain societies, some more than others, such that the rate of plastic surgery is very high compared to other countries. Comparing the US to Korea in raw numbers is not logical, since the population is not the same. Does anyone have percentage stats so we can compare apples to apples?

According to this article, 50% of women in Korea in their 20s have had some form of plastic surgery. To me, this number is staggering. I can\'t believe that the same percentage is to be found in the U.S., but if someone has stats to contradict me, then please share them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from...ent/4229995.stm

1 out of 2 kids in their 20's did not have plastic surgery. that's ludicrous.

This is from a Korean media source.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0509260014.html

Eyelid surgery is such a minor operation and dosen't make an ugly girl beautiful... and that's probably the most prevailent surgery in Korea.

Exclude that and Korea's plastic surgery rates plummet.

I believe those 50% estimate is FAR exaggerated.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_pla_...ures-per-capita

Here is a list of per capita plastic surgery. Korea is ranked 27 out of 34.

I think part of the difficulty here is that these stats make no distinction between elective surgery and others, such as getting a nose job for vanity vs because of being in a car accident. But then again, if most people do not want to acknowledge that there is an issue in Korea and other parts of Asia and brush it under the rug, then so be it.

Yes, there is an issue in Korea with a women's value being extracted from her level of beauty, but to address the issue isn't to talk about high surgery rates, but rather the nature of Korean society that excentuates this problem.

That is exactly the point I was hoping to make at first, but people are going to focus on the plastic surgery statistics, which I am guilty of as well.

Do I detect a hint of jealousy? Did you even bother to read? Nowhere in that second link you brought states that 1 out of 2 Korean girls had surgery. In fact, your second source directly contradicts your first source by stating that 17% had surgery rather than 50%. PWN'd

Furthermore your first and second sources are both lies. They are lies because they have no sources or research to back them up. In fact the second link was nothing more than hearsay and rumors by the shoddy journalist. Journalists are hardly scientists or statisticians. The Chosun ilbo should not be trusted in instances like this. The Chosun Ilbo has a reputation for being sensationalist and manipulating data for its own purposes. For example you could poll only women inside plastic surgery clinics and question them on whether they have thought about having surgery or not. I can guarantee you the result would be vastly different from merely polling ordinary women. Im not saying that they did this, what I am saying is that theyve done similar things(with different issues) in the past just to sell more papers or to prove a stupid point. That said, the 17% claim is bogus. They have no evidence, no sources, no research data, no nothing. Its just one of the countless claims you can find on the internet. Some claims even go as high as 80%.

I find all these vicious plastic surgery rumors to be stupid and contradictory. You have idiots claiming that only 20% of Korean girls have double eyelids while also claiming that 50% of Korean girls have had double eyelid surgery. The question is, how the fu-k is it possible for only 20% of Korean girls to have double eyelids if 50% of them had double eyelid surgery?

I have no idea what you think you are detecting, but I sure am detecting iritation from you. Precisely the defensive anti-intellectual position many seem to take when discussing this topic. I posted the 2nd link not to support the stats of the 1st link necessarily, though it doesn\'t contradict it either. The 17% is for ALL adults, not the 20 somethings the 1st link is claiming. Furthermore, the point of the 2nd article, form a KOREAN SOURCE, is that at least some people can acknowledge an issue without trying to save face.

and your point? They went upto every kid 20's and asked if they had plastic surgery? No they didn't. Someone is just making assumptions. 53% women "CONSIDERED". Not actually done.

Forget it. I have no point. There is no self-image issue in Korea. Everything is just grand.

You really don't. You came here to bash Koreans because you are either jealous Asian because Koreans get all the attention or any of those mentally deficient ESL teaching morons.

First of all, it is not plastic surgery which your articles are talking about but cosmetic surgery.
Second, there are no reliable sources except for this one dubious survey, which likely was conducted only in downtown Seoul.

Nobody denies there is much eyelid surgery going on in Korea but nobody really cares.
Are you Korean or why do you care?

That\'s right, because discussing social issues means you are bashing Koreans. Please continue to educate me. I would be most greatful.

you tell dem gyal,mi wit you 100%

Discussing social issues that have nothing to do with you! You signed up today to talk about Koreans. Troll alert.

oh its this $hit again

Wow, funny, since I have been in the Chinese chat way more than here today.

LMAO. Now you are just insecure Chinese. I get it now.

Intellectual curiosity. I am not a dog either, but I had an interest in veterinary medicine. Do I need to be a dog or a cat to have that interest? Do you only post stuff in Korean chat or do you sometimes go to Chinese or Japanese chat? Why?

Whatever. I\'m not even Asian.

what does veterinary medicine have anything to do with Koreans having plastic surgery? Koreans aren't the only eat dog meat for health reasons.

I don't post $hit in J or C chat.

so whats your problem? what do you want?

Either way you are a jealous chica or fruit cake.

Nothing anymore. Apparently I was here only to bash Koreans and I did that, or so I am told. So oh well.

Then get the fu-k out you ping pong wanna be.

Good for you, but I was replying to jushinwang. Crazy, I am a veterinarian and so I brought that up as an interest that I pursued, and now you think I was trying to insinuate dog eating issues with Koreans. This is getting nuts. I\'m out of here.

You have to learn about korean culture first.

i have a feeling the people fighting are gonna turn out to be all the same person again LMAO

The only one crazy is you. You come here to post some b.s about Koreans having plastic surgery facts like you know $hit. GTFO Taiwanese idiot. Why don't you show your colors by saying cockoreans.

you're right. Johnny Hamster's at work again.


visit Johnnnys homepage

Sorry Jessica, but none of your sources were credible nor were they supportive of the ambiguous argument you were making.

No one denies that Korean society does over-value superficial elements such as beauty, but they are not far from the nature of many societies. I do agree that society should have different expectations from women other than just beauty, but your arguments of saying a large majority Korean women do plastic surgery because of the nature of Korean society only explains a common human phenomenom and does little to further the discussion of what makes Korea's case unique.

So if people here acknowledge that Koreans over-value beauty, what now? What is your point other than stating the obvious?

Im detecting jealously and annoyance from you.



Anti-intellectualism? No, try anti-stupidity. Your claims are stupid and unsupported.



How does that support each other? 50% of 20 year olds yet you bring another article that states 17% from adult Korean women? How? Please tell me. Because honestly, those 2 sources have no evidence to back their claims. They contradict each other. You basically pwned yourself. Just because every South Korean women on the street is prettier then you doesnt mean they all had surgery. It just means youre a nasty looking shriveled up depressed overtly jealous drama queen with issues.



That Korean source comes from a sensationalist newspaper which is trying to increase sales. That newspaper also did not give any sources out. That same newspaper has also been caught doing biased articles and polls in the past. Remember that polling women inside plastic surgery clinic example I gave out?



Dont let the door hit you on the way out. The door is worth more than you.

Sheesh, can this topic not be discussed without everyone getting personal and making ad hominem attacks? This is the same $hit that happens everytime, no matter what Asian site I have been at. There should be a rule never to start this topic, ever.

Long-time AF regulars to spot legitiment members from trolls. Jushinwang and Daejang are trolls who are regularly banned here.