Hi guys, I'm currently residing in Korea and have done my fair share of extensive research about cosmetic/plastic surgery clinics and procedures in Korea. Most specifically the Seoul area. I decided to create an account for the sole purpose of writing a thread for all y'all considering plastic surgery in Korea because I just could not handle seeing many of you being close to making wrong and regretful decisions for such important procedures.
Now, the only procedure that I've ever gotten is rhinoplasty last year at Dream Medical in apgujeong exit 4. I am 100% Korean and live in Korea as well as have gotten many helpful tips from surrounding people. I've only lived in Korea for about 3 months now but I've been visiting in and out for several years now. I know that my knowledge is probably not as extensive as those of who have lived their whole lives in Korea, however I figured that something is better than nothing especially coming from someone whose ethnicity and nationality is Korean.
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Moving on to the topic of Plastic Surgery. There is no doubt that Korea is one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to beauty and cosmetic surgery. This explains the HUNDREDS maybe even thousands of plastic surgery clinics in Korea. This should be a red flag for ALL of you simply because of the hundreds of plastic surgery clinics out there. It is impossible to know which clinic is trustworthy and ethical (aka does not perform unethical procedures for example switching doctors, using unhygienic material, having less than mediocre surgical skills, etc) and which is not. Here I am going to list the most important and crucial tips for choosing the right clinic:
1. Do not have any procedures done at clincics outside of the Gangnam Area. Preferably outside of the apgujeong area. - Apgujeong is basically known as the district of Plastic Surgery. You go out and you'll see clinics literally EVERYWHERE. Even up to 3-5 clinics in the same building. There is a reason for this. In Korea, they say that if a clinic is in the apgujeong area, they are most likely going to be reliable and authorized/official. Meaning that they are most likely going to be licensed and legit. Now this doesn't mean that ALL of them are going to be legit and it also doesn't mean that clinics outside of the apgujeong area are all going to be crap clinics. There are some good clinics in the Gangnam area outside of apgujeong, but if it is a clinic completely outside of the Gangnam area I would not recommend. What I am basically trying to tell you, is that I would stick to clinics in the apgujeong area to be safe.
2. PLEASE do your extensive research about every clinic that you are planning to attend. -
Many clinics in Korea are blacklisted. The most famous blacklisted clinic is Grand Plastic Surgery. No Korean ever dares to go near there LOL. There is a list in the Korean community going around that has listed many of the Plastic surgery clinics that have either performed unethical surgeries or have had deaths/bad results. If you search it up on google, it should come up. Also, Korea plastic surgery clinics are very good about controlling what goes up on the web about their clinic, and what doesn't. Sometimes Koreans will post up their bad experiences with the clinics and the clinics will find a way to put it down. So if you know someone who has first hand experience with the clinic itself, then that is your best source of info!
3. Do not trust everything you read online.
One of the first things I want to point out is that in the Korean Surgery community, there is such thing called a "broker". "Brokers" are people specifically hired by the clinic to post up fake reviews online "boosting" their clinics and praising their name. However, this does tend to mostly occur in Korean community sites/cafes so for those of you who find most of your information in blogs like this or in the english language, you should be fine.
4. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU TAKE UP A CONSULTATION AND DO NOT BE FOOLED BY WHAT THE CLINICS TELL YOU:
CONSULTANTS. Don't be fooled guys. Whether they are completely rude or sweet talk you, do not be fooled by what they say. Their job is to sell you as many procedures as they can and to bring in the most income to the clinic so they get their profit. Sometimes they will recommend you procedures that you most definitely don't need and will manipulate you into thinking that they are right and that you need to fix some part of your face that you don't actually need to "fix". Therefore knowing what you want before you walk in for a consultation will not only save you from needless burdens and pain but will also save your wallet ALOT of money
5. Do try to negotiate/ bargain with the price-
Im gonna be straight up real with you guys. Foreigners get priced a higher price. Alot higher. Why? I don't know. Possibly even twice as much. However there is not much you can do but play with the price a bit. They will not bring down the price to what they quote Korean residents and natives. They'll probably deny quoting foreigners a higher price for all I know but yes it is true that foreigners get quoted a much higher price. The only other tip I can give you is to approach them in Korean language IF you are Korean and know decent korean. Otherwise, only thing you can do is bargain.
6. Do not go with medical tourisms such as SeoulTU or DocFK. It hurts my heart and head when I see people using these medical tourism guides to get a much simpler than it seems journey. Not only do they quote you a EVEN higher price for the procedure, but they're choices of clinic recommendations are very limited. Most of the times, they will have their 5-6 go to clinics that give them the highest profit for brining customers in. They will always reassure you that going with them will be give you the best price you could get and etc but not true. Save yourself thousands of dollars by not going with a medical tourism group PLEASE! For less than $5 you can take the subway to wherever your destination is (also subways are extremely easy to use). Book your own airbnb in advance for a much cheaper place to stay at, and approach the clinic yourself because most likely they will have translators! IT might seem intimidating but I assure you that it is much easier than it seems.
Clinics I want to talk about:
Before I start this off, I want to say that ALL clinics whether they be reputable and famous or not, ALL have their ups and downs meaning that not every clinic will perform perfect procedures every time. Just like doctors and surgeons, they can't be successful every time. So this is something you need to understand and risk.
Dream Medical group: This is one of the most famous plastic surgery clinics in Korea located in the apgujeong area. I had my procedure done after seeing successful results of my sister's procedures here as well. I personally had a very successful experience there for my rhinoplasty with Dr. Kim Young Joon. He's the head and I believe the only doctor who performs facial contouring. However he performs almost all kinds of procedures including, eyes, nose, lifting, etc. It is a little bit on the pricier side so if you're looking to not spending too much then I wouldn't recommend this place however it is a good and reputable clinic.
Shimmian: Oh man. Where do I start off. I've absolutely NEVER heard of this clinic before until I read english reviews?? I've seen many many reviews both good and TERRIBLE. Let me just say that I would never go to this clinic. never in my life LOL. This clinic in Korea is basically nonexistent. No Korean ever goes to this clinic simply because they don't even know about it. I don't even know if this place is still open. I've looked them uo before and their before and after pics are not impressive at all, so there goes red flag 1. I have no idea where they are located red flag #2. Reviews on this clinic, red flag #3. Enough said.
April 31: I have noticed that this clinic is very famous amongst you guys here on purseforum. I've personally never heard of this place before. It could be because it is a clinic that targets a foreign audience. However it is not famous in Korea nor do Koreans know about it. However, I did do some research and I've found people say that they have HEARD that this clinic is good at rhinoplasty but that they have never seen solid proof. They also say that this Clinic is way too expensive and that even if they were good they would never pay the price that the clinic quotes. So there you go. April 31 is just too expensive. You can find other more reputable clinics for much cheaper.
I will stop here because I do not know much more about any other clinic. I just wanted to discuss these three particular clinics because they seem to be famous and talked alot about within this forum. Whether you choose to follow my tips or not is your choice, but I wanted to just give a little heads up for those of you lost in the thousands of ps clinics in Korea. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer them! (: Also, please keep in mind that these tips do not apply to EVERY SINGLE ps clinic Korea. It is just a rough generalization.
