AsiaNews Magazine Jan10-16,2014 ( Jan 1-7,2014) | Page 63

COVER STORY

January 10-16, 2014

talk about plastic surgery and
looks. A lot of my classmates even
put on makeup during class,” said
a 14-year-old middle school student surnamed Lee. “One of my
friends said she will force her
parents to allow her to get plastic
surgery this winter,” she said.
Kim Dong-ha of BEFOR Plastic Surgical Clinic said that celebrities having a plastic surgery
procedure is one of the key motivations that encourages minors to
go in for surgery.
“Students look at (celebrities after they’ve had) surgery and think,
‘Wow, they’ve become pretty.’ This
gives them the urge to undergo
surgery too,” he said.
The threshold for the age at
which teenagers experience plastic
surgery seems to have lowered significantly in the past few years.
Local plastic surgery clinic ID
Hospital said that from January
2011 to May 2013, the proportion

of teenagers among the total number of patients grew from 6.6 per
cent to 10.9 per cent. And it is not
always kids who tug the hands of
their parents, either.
“Some parents try to persuade
their children to have plastic surgery, but the kids refuse it,” Kim
said. He said not many parents object to their children getting plastic surgery, as long as it is not too
risky or expensive.
Another surgeon, Kim Jee-wook
of Spropose Plastic Surgery, said
those parents are looking to boost
their children’s confidence. “From
the parents’ perspective, a child’s
complex can affect school grades
and relationships with classmates.
So if [plastic surgery] helps with
children’s morale, parents can react positively toward it,” he said.
Kim added that about 20 per cent
of people who visit his hospit