Eye surgery draws most complaints

By Jung Min-ho

As the plastic surgery industry is booming, complaints about side effects and the quality of services are rising sharply.

The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA), an advocacy group, said Tuesday that it ruled for damages in 214 cases involving complaints about plastic surgery over the past two years.

In 2013 alone, the agency received complaints from 4,816 people, up 28.5 percent from the previous year.

Of the 214, 147 concerned side effects from cosmetic surgery, while 67 were about overcharging in a breach of contract.

Among the side effect cases, 52.5 percent concerned eye surgery, followed by nose (38.2 percent) and breast operations (12.2 percent), liposuction (9.5 percent) and facial bone contouring (8.8 percent).

Most complaints (71 percent) were about clinics in Seoul; and 80.9 percent of these came from Gangnam, which is often dubbed as the plastic surgery capital of Asia.

Yet the KCA said the real number is probably much higher, given that few foreign victims are seeking its help.

“Only five cases were filed by foreigners,” the KCA told The Korea Times. “I’m sure there many more people who don’t seek help because of language and other problems.”

Many experts believe this problem has emerged largely because of an increasing number of unqualified doctors that work as “plastic surgeons.”

According to the Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons (KAPS), about nine out of 10 doctors working in cosmetic surgery clinics are not specialists.

That means 90 percent of doctors perform cosmetic operations only after obtaining their basic license. They are not “plastic surgery specialists” — a title they earn after a 4-year residency training under qualified plastic surgeons — but they can still do the job legally.

“In other words, dentists and ophthalmologists can conduct breast enlargement operations,” plastic surgery specialist Park Jun said. “But for those who know little about the Korean medical system, including foreigners, they all look like plastic surgeons.”

What non-specialists can’t do is to promote themselves as “plastic surgery specialists” on clinic signs or websites, but as long as they avoid using that particular term, they can promote themselves as “international plastic surgery experts,” “cosmetic surgery doctors” or whatever they want.

“So the current law is useless,” plastic surgery specialist Park Young-jin said. “For violators, there is little KAPS can do because they are not members anyway.”

Yet the government has done little to correct the situation over concerns that regulating unqualified doctors might slow the nation’s booming medical tourism industry.