The plastic surgery rate in South Korea is easiest to follow through its surgeons rather than its patients: by 2026 more than 2,800 specialists had been certified, according to a 2026 historical review by Kang in BMC Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The same review calls the national society the third largest of its kind worldwide. Patient percentages shift with every survey design, while certification totals come from records and move slowly.
Clinics in Seoul
5 clinics for Plastic surgery in Seoul
| # | Clinic | Devices & products | Area | Languages | Listed price | Google rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENTER Plastic Surgery | SMAS facelift · Blepharoplasty · Rhinoplasty · Fat grafting | Gangnam-daero | - | ₩1,300,000 | - |
| 2 | Rewind Plastic Surgery | Mini facelift · Blepharoplasty · Rhinoplasty · Fat grafting | Nonhyeon-ro | English · Español | ₩1,200,000 | 5.0 (54) |
| 3 | Garnet Plastic Surgery | Mini facelift · Blepharoplasty · Rhinoplasty · Fat grafting | Apgujeong Station | English | ₩2,000,000 | - |
| 4 | JN Plastic Surgery | Facelift · Blepharoplasty · Rhinoplasty | Gangnam Station | 中文 | - | - |
| 5 | Girin Plastic Surgery | Mini facelift · Blepharoplasty · Rhinoplasty | Sinnonhyeon Station | English · 中文 · 日本語 · ไทย | - | 4.9 (2,934) |
11. ENTER Plastic Surgery
ENTER Plastic Surgery is a plastic surgery clinic in Gangnam-daero. Plastic surgery is offered here together with thread lifts, facelift surgery and HIFU lifting. Its listed plastic surgery price starts from ₩1,300,000 + VAT.
Gangnam skin and lifting clinic with a facelift surgeon
- Skin plus surgery
- English & Japanese staff
- Station-front
- Board-certified plastic surgeons on staff
- Eyelid and facelift surgery here is planned and performed by the same surgeon, with hyperbaric oxygen and IV drips available afterwards.
- One minute from Nonhyeon Station Exit 4 on the Sinbundang Line, on Gangnam-daero.
Eyelid or facelift planning trips · Japanese-speaking visitors
- Location
- Gangnam-daero
- Listed price
- From ₩1,300,000 + VAT
22. Rewind Plastic Surgery
★ 5.054 Google reviewsRewind Plastic Surgery sits in Nonhyeon-ro, a plastic surgery clinic that holds a 5.0 Google rating across 54 reviews. It offers plastic surgery alongside HIFU lifting, RF lifting and Botox. Consultations are available in English and Spanish, and listed plastic surgery prices start at ₩1,200,000 + VAT.
Apgujeong lifting surgery clinic with a skin-care side
- Surgical lifting
- Same surgeon throughout
- Calm, private floors
- Board-certified plastic surgeons on staff
- The same surgeon carries each case from first consultation to final follow-up.
- Botox, Ultherapy Prime, Thermage FLX, Rejuran and Juvelook are offered, planned separately from surgery.
Combining Botox with lifting consult · Jawline and neck concerns
- Location
- Nonhyeon-ro
- Languages
- English · Español
- Listed price
- From ₩1,200,000 + VAT
33. Garnet Plastic Surgery
Garnet Plastic Surgery runs a plastic surgery clinic a 4-minute walk from Apgujeong Station. Its menu covers plastic surgery as well as facelift surgery and thread lifts. It consults in English, and listed plastic surgery prices start at ₩2,000,000 + VAT.
Apgujeong surgeon-led clinic for eyes, nose and facelifts
- Surgeon-led care
- Eyes, nose & lifting
- Small, calm schedule
- Board-certified plastic surgeons on staff
- Planned reviews at one, three and six months, plus messenger follow-up once you are home.
- The same surgeon meets you, operates and follows up, with no counsellor hand-off or substitute doctor.
Eyelid and under-eye surgery · Revision or implant-free rhinoplasty
- Location
- Apgujeong Station (Line 3), ~4 min walk (294 m)
- Languages
- English
- Listed price
- From ₩2,000,000 + VAT
44. JN Plastic Surgery
JN Plastic Surgery is a 5-minute walk from Gangnam Station, a plastic surgery clinic. Plastic surgery is offered here together with HIFU lifting, RF lifting and Botox. Consultations are available in Chinese.
Eye, nose, lifting and body filler surgery in Gangnam
- Plastic surgery
- Thread lifting
- Revision care
- Board-certified plastic surgeons on staff
- Nose surgery options include implant-free rhinoplasty using the patient's own tissue, planned with 3D-CT.
- Separate centers for first-time surgery, revision surgery and anti-aging facelifts.
Eye and nose surgery · Pelvic and body filler
- Location
- Gangnam Station (Line 2 / Sinbundang Line), about 5 minutes on foot
- Languages
- 中文
55. Girin Plastic Surgery
★ 4.92,934 Google reviewsGirin Plastic Surgery is a plastic surgery clinic a 2-minute walk from Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 7, rated 4.9 from 2,934 Google reviews. It offers plastic surgery alongside HIFU lifting, RF lifting and Botox. Consultations are available in English, Chinese, Japanese and Thai.
Full-scope plastic surgery with international recovery support
- Full-scope surgery
- Recovery program
- Two-floor setup
- Language consultants assist international patients 24 hours a day.
- Covers eye, nose, facial contouring, breast and body surgery alongside dermatology.
Facial contouring and rhinoplasty · Solo international travelers
- Location
- Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 7, 2 min walk (Gangnam Station Exit 10, 5 min walk)
- Languages
- English · 中文 · 日本語 · ไทย
Prices
Plastic surgery cost in Seoul
Prices below come from the listed clinics' own price lists, before VAT. 10% VAT is added at payment.
Non-incisional (buried) double eyelid
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $873₩1,200,000 + VATCompare clinicsMedial epicanthoplasty
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $873₩1,200,000 + VATCompare clinicsLateral/lower/upper canthoplasty
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $873₩1,200,000 + VATCompare clinicsEpicanthoplasty — medial or upper (each)
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $945₩1,300,000 + VATCompare clinicsNon-incisional (buried suture) double eyelid
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $1,164₩1,600,000 + VATCompare clinicsPartial-incision double eyelid
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $1,309₩1,800,000 + VATCompare clinicsIncisional double eyelid surgery
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $1,455₩2,000,000 + VATCompare clinicsDouble eyelid — buried (non-incisional)
Price at 1 listed clinic · approx. $1,455From ₩2,000,000 + VATCompare clinicsGuide
Why surgeon numbers are a steadier yardstick
Most plastic surgery rates in South Korea that circulate online describe patients, and each rests on a sample: an age band, a city, one year, a chosen definition of surgery. Certification works differently. A doctor either completed specialty training and passed the examination or did not, so the total rises in steps that society records can confirm.
Kang built the 2026 review from society archives, founding surgeons' memoirs, wartime medical records and institutional histories. The certified total is a measure of capacity, not of how many people had an operation, and it leaves out doctors from other fields who offer injections or skin procedures. Still, a country does not train thousands of specialists in one field unless demand has stayed large for decades.
Guide
Five phases from wartime care to international patients
The review splits the specialty's history into five phases, starting from December 1884, when a stab wound treated after a political coup led to the first Western hospital. Read in order, the phases show demand moving from injury repair toward elective surgery, then toward visitors from abroad. The first university department opened in 1961.
| Phase | Years in the review | What changed | Why it matters for today's figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wartime introduction | 1945 to the 1960s | Reconstructive methods arrived with war-injury care | Early operations were repair work |
| Institutional foundation | 1966 to 1975 | Departments and formal training spread | Certification began producing records |
| Technical specialization | 1975 to 1985 | Surgeons narrowed their technical focus | Experience with specific operations built up |
| Aesthetic emergence | 1985 to 2000 | Elective appearance surgery grew large | Most cosmetic figures date from after this |
| Internationalization | 2000 to present | Foreign patients became part of practice | Counts mix residents and travelers |
Guide
Reconstruction still sits inside the specialty
Statistics of plastic surgery in South Korea are often read as if every operation were cosmetic. The field began with reconstruction, and Kang closes the review by stressing that this mission still needs careful stewardship. Repair after injury or cancer surgery is done by the same certified workforce.
So when a plastic surgery in South Korea statistics headline does not say whether it counts cosmetic work only, assume it may include repair. A plastic surgery korea percentage drawn from hospital billing can look very different from a plastic surgery percentage in Korea taken from an appearance survey.
Guide
What a survey of Chinese visitors found
Travelers belong to the internationalization phase. In a 2017 paper in the International Journal of Tourism Management and Sciences, Cho and Park surveyed Chinese people who had cosmetic surgery in Korea, through an online questionnaire run from September to October 2015. Of 361 returned forms, 317 were analyzed after removing respondents who had never had surgery.
Reasons for choosing Korea grouped into three factors: expertise, convenience and tourism, each positively linked with satisfaction. A hypothesis that personal autonomy would change those links was rejected. Because some operations counted in Seoul are performed on visitors, a national total divided by residents does not give a percentage of plastic surgery in South Korea for residents, nor a plastic surgery in South Korea percentage for any one group.
Guide
Turning the background into consultation questions
Plastic surgery South Korea statistics say nothing about one surgeon. What does carry over from the history is a short set of checks.
- Specialty: ask whether the operating doctor holds plastic surgery specialist certification, and since when.
- Volume: ask how often this surgeon performs your exact procedure, not how busy the clinic is.
- Aftercare from abroad: ask who answers questions after you fly home and how records are shared.
- Limits: a useful consultation also explains when an operation is not advisable. Results vary from person to person.
Evidence
Research behind this page
- From a stab wound to a surgical specialty: a narrative review of the historical development of plastic and reconstructive surgery in Korea, 1884–2026BMC Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery · 2026 · doi:10.1186/s44452-026-00027-7
A narrative review of the specialty in Korea across five phases, reporting more than 2,800 certified specialists by 2026.
- The effects of the Chinese tourists’ cosmetic surgery tourism attributes in Korea on satisfaction: With focus on the moderating effect of self-determinationInternational Journal of Tourism Management and Sciences · 2017 · doi:10.21719/ijtms.32.7.5
A 2015 survey of 317 Chinese patients linked expertise, convenience and tourism factors with satisfaction.
FAQ
Questions about Plastic surgery in Seoul
Which clinics offer Plastic surgery in Seoul?
Clinics offering Plastic surgery in Seoul include ENTER Plastic Surgery (Gangnam-daero), Rewind Plastic Surgery (Nonhyeon-ro), Garnet Plastic Surgery (Apgujeong Station), JN Plastic Surgery (Gangnam Station) and Girin Plastic Surgery (Sinnonhyeon Station). Each lists Plastic surgery on its own menu; message the clinic directly to confirm the doctor, product and current price.
How many certified plastic surgeons are there in South Korea?
More than 2,800 specialists had been certified by 2026, according to Kang's 2026 review in BMC Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, which also describes the national society as the third largest in the world. The total covers certified specialists only. Doctors from other fields who offer injections or skin procedures are outside it, so the number reflects surgical training capacity rather than every provider of aesthetic care.
Is South Korea the leader in aesthetic procedures per person?
Kang's 2026 review describes South Korea as the global leader in aesthetic procedures per capita, which is how the claim usually appears. Per-capita rankings depend on the international survey used, the procedures it includes and how many clinics reported. Treat the ranking as a sign of scale rather than an exact position, and look for the survey year and method whenever a site repeats it as fact.
When did cosmetic surgery become common in Korea?
In Kang's five-phase history, aesthetic surgery emerged as a major part of the field between 1985 and 2000. Before that, the specialty grew from wartime reconstructive care after 1945, built training from the 1960s and then specialized technically. Most plastic surgery rates in Korea quoted today reflect the years after that turn, when elective operations became a large share of surgical work.
Why do Chinese visitors choose Korea for cosmetic surgery?
In a 2015 survey of 317 Chinese patients, analyzed by Cho and Park in 2017, reasons for choosing Korea fell into three groups: expertise, convenience and tourism. Each group was positively linked with satisfaction. The study measured how respondents rated their experience, not surgical outcomes or complications. It covers one nationality in one year, so it should not be treated as a reason that applies to every traveler.
Do plastic surgery rates in South Korea include reconstructive operations?
Often they do, unless the source states that it counts cosmetic surgery only. The certified specialty covers both repair and appearance work, and Kang's 2026 review notes that reconstruction remains central to the field. Billing data may combine both, while appearance surveys usually ask about elective operations alone. Check the definition before comparing two figures from different sources. Otherwise the gap may only reflect what each counted.
Does every doctor offering cosmetic procedures hold a plastic surgery specialty?
No, and the difference matters mainly for operations. Injections, lasers and skin procedures are commonly performed by doctors trained in other fields, while incisional surgery under sedation or general anesthesia calls for surgical training. Ask the clinic to state the specialty of the doctor who will operate and when that certification was granted, in writing, before you book an operation date.