I'm in Seoul, healing after my eyelid revision surgery 2 days ago. Before I came to Korea though, I looked online as much as I could for info--including this Purse Forum website--so I decided to share my experience with you all in case it helps!
I'm from the U.S. and was initially worried about visiting the Korean clinics since I don't speak Korean well. However, the clinics I contacted (Real Cosmetic, VIP, and JW Plastic Surgery) all had English staff members or representatives, so I was assured the language barrier wouldn't be a problem.
By the way, a great place to stay if you're getting any plastic surgery done in Seoul's Gangnam neighborhood is Hotel Sunshine:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294197-d506101-Reviews-Hotel_Sunshine-Seoul.html
It's about $98 per night (including tax). The rooms are small, but clean and comfortable. Front desk staff speaks fair amount of English. TV and free internet connection provided (*bring your laptop computer with the proper plug-in adapter: I bought one at Best Buy for $8 that allows you to plug in the 3-prong cords to the 2-prong wall outlets). Within walking distance to many plastic surgery clinics, cafes, and restaurants since it is located on Sinsa-dong street and a 10 minute walk from the Apgujeong station #3. (By the way, Sinsa-dong is not just one big, long street--there are several side streets that are all called Sinsa-dong, so if you're trying to walk around, make sure you ask for directions!)
Another note: From Incheon Airport, it's very easy to get to Seoul by buying a 15,000 won (less than $15) bus ticket one way and taking bus #6010 to Apgujeong Station #3. (The Real Cosmetic English rep recommended the hotel and bus travel to me, which I was very grateful for--since it was very convenient and relatively inexpensive.)
--> Now about the consultation experiences with the Korean clinics:
*I had my original eyelid surgery in 2009, but since I also have ptosis that wasn't corrected enough, the double eyelid created was completely hidden--making me look basically the same except with more thickness above my eye and a constant forehead wrinkle between my eyebrows--not the result I was hoping for...
The first clinic I visited the day I arrived in Seoul was...
1) JW Plastic Surgery (
http://jwbeauty.net/): I have to admit my aunt in Seoul referred this one to me, because I don't think they market as heavily to international patients as other clinics do--which means that most of their patients are native Koreans. Dr. Hong Lim Choi is the one who specializes in eye surgeries. He recommended ptosis correction, medial epicanthoplasty, and removal of extra tissue on the lateral areas of my eyelid (to eliminate the sad, drooping appearance). Dr. Choi told me honestly though that he wouldn't increase my eye height and length dramatically, because he wanted to give me a natural result while improving my appearance. The office manger was really patient and willing to give a reasonable price since my aunt had referred other family members to the clinic. Price quote = 3,500,000 won (less than $3,500). I really appreciated Dr. Choi's honesty, but since I wanted to make sure this time that there was a definite, bigger change to my eye shape, I decided to visit a couple of other clinics the next day to compare recommendations...
2) VIP (
http://www.beauty-korea.com/): Surprisingly, this clinic is just a few steps away from JW--the buildings are basically next door to each other. There are actually 2 doctors here, although only Dr. Lee is listed on the website. The younger doctor (whose name I didn't find out) was pleasant and also recommended medial epicanthoplasty--but he said I should also get an eyebrow lift due to my drooping eyelids (ptosis). That sounded good, but I soon found out that an "eyebrow lift" means a "forehead lift"--which is what the main doctor (Dr. Lee) would do under IV sedation. The office manager quoted a price of 4,500,000 won for double eyelid revision surgery + 1,000,000 won for medial epicanthoplasty + 6,500,000 won for forehead lift with IV sedation = 12,000,000 won --> they were willing to go down to about 10,000,000 won (less than $10,000) if I paid in cash, but that was still way more than I had planned to spend. Also, I'm only 33 years old, and my aunt mentioned with concern that usually forehead lifts are done on middle-aged women (50 years and older). Anyway, I actually thought about doing it, because I really disliked how small my eyes were at rest, but wanted to see what the 3rd clinic said...
3) Real Cosmetic Clinic (
http://www.realcosmetic.com/main/main.php): a 5 minute walk from the other clinics. I met with Dr. Soo Shin Kim, who speaks English pretty well and was detailed in explaining different options--which was a little confusing at first, because it took a while (after asking him a couple of times) for him to clarify what he recommended for me: Botox for the wrinkling between my eyebrows (which he said I would need to do once a year to maintain), double eyelid revision surgery with ptosis correction, and medial epicanthoplasty (but only after I requested it). The consultant quoted a price of 4,800,000 won. However, when I mentioned to her that the other clinics were willing to give a discount, she only lowered it down to 4,700,000 won and wouldn't budge at all from there...My aunt, in the meantime, had called the first clinic to ask if we could return for a second consultation...
...so, back to JW Clinic, where we met with the office manager and translator. They said Dr. Choi didn't believe that the forehead lift or Botox injections were necessary for me, because he would be able to improve the droopiness of my eyelids with ptosis correction alone (tucking the eye muscles) during the revision surgery with local anesthesia. Since I had asked for a natural result with a small improvement in my original eyelid surgery that had turned out into a big disappointment afterwards (everyone saying I looked the same), I was still hesitant at first. However, visiting the other 2 clinics had shown me that the first clinic (JW) appeared to be the most straightforward and ethical in only recommending what I truly needed. And therefore, I felt most comfortable getting the surgery done with Dr. Choi.
Since I was only staying in Korea for 8 more days, the office manager booked my surgery for late afternoon the next day, so that I could get a 7 day post-op suture removal checkup before I flew back to the U.S. Since my surgery was scheduled at the end of the clinic hours (due to their busy schedule), that meant that Dr. Choi agreed to stay late to do my surgery--which ended up taking more than 3 hours! The office manager also bought my meds ahead of time (since the pharmacy would be closed by the end of the surgery), and I just paid for both the surgery and the meds at the same time--which was really convenient.
Even though there was the expected post-op swelling afterwards, I could already tell on the first night that my eyes looked much better than before. As Dr. Choi had promised, my eyes were slightly longer and slightly larger but still looked natural--and the double eyelid was visible now, with no wrinkling between my eyebrows, and a little more light reflected in my eyes at rest--> everything that I was hoping for.
I'm so grateful that my aunt referred me to JW Clinic. I'm very happy with the results so far, and Dr. Choi did a great job in understanding what I wanted. He also was really patient and careful--constantly checking during the surgery to make sure the balance was equal on both eyelids. Even though it's only been 2 days since my surgery, it's such a relief to see that this time, the surgery was worth it. =)
I'm so regret now.my eyes before better than after op ;(