AsiaNews Magazine Jan10-16,2014 ( Jan 1-7,2014) | Page 61

COVER STORY

January 10-16, 2014

Looking like
a star
YOON MIN-SIK
The Korea Herald
Seoul

J

ust a decade ago,
a celebrity openly
talking about his or
her plastic surgery
was a rare thing. In recent
years, however, it’s become
not so uncommon for stars
to “bravely” confess their
experience under the knife.
Popular female singers such as Goo Ha-ra of
K-pop girl group KARA
and Baek Ji-young have
talked about their surgeries
on TV. Hwang Kwang-hee
of boyband ZE:A has even
embraced the gimmick of
being a “seonghyeong-dol”

BAEK JI-YOUNG

- (a combination of the
Korean words for plastic
surgery and idol), making jokes about his numerous surgeries.
With the media no longer making a fuss about
plastic surgery, more
teenagers are starting to
develop positive sentiments toward cosmetic
surgeries and, unsurprisingly, many are tempted to go under the knife
themselves.
“I think it’s better (for
celebrities) to honestly
admit that they had plastic surgeries, rather than
to lie,” said a 17-year-old
high school student. She
said that plastic surgery is
for “satisfaction with oneself ” and should not be
frowned upon.
“We’re too young to
actually do it, but we all