1/5韓國女性曾整容 專家揭整容根源大綱

Plastic surgery has long been big business in the US, but now the trend is sweeping across Asia.

Figures released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), suggest that when population is taken into account, South Korea is now the world's largest market for cosmetic procedures.

In a bid to change their looks, 20 percent of women between the ages of 19 and 49 in Seoul, the country's capital city, admitted they had gone under the knife.

The most popular surgical procedures include double eyelid surgery - which reduces excess skin in the upper eyelid to make the eyes appear bigger, lipoplasty - which uses high-frequency sound waves to eliminate fat - and nose jobs.

While on the nonsurgical front, Botox and laser hair removal remain firm favourites.

Overall more than 5.8 million enhancements were performed in Asia during 2010, while just over 4.5 million procedures were carried out in the US the Economist revealed.

It is believed that the rise of South Korea's pop music industry is behind the boom, and many patients visit clinics with photos of celebrities, asking surgeons to emulate nose angle or eyes.

One of the country's largest clinics, JK Plastic Surgery Center founded by Joo Kwon, recently opened a hotel to better serve customers, who spend an average of $17,675 during a single visit.

An increasing amount of clients are non-Koreans, from China, Japan, the Middle East and even Africa, and ministers believe medical tourism will help boost the Korean economy.

However Mr Kwon warned that young people should be cautious when seeking such operations.

'I think South Korea has a very rigorous and narrow definition of beauty because we’re an ethnically homogenous society and everyone looks pretty much the same. It is also related to low self-esteem.

'I think the situation will somewhat moderate in future as society becomes more diverse. But it will take quite a bit of time until we get there,' he told the reporters.

Last year, the Education Ministry issued a booklet warning Korean high school students of 'plastic surgery syndrome', citing Michael Jackson and a local woman whose addiction to plastic surgery left her with a grotesquely swollen face.整形美容長期以來一直在美國盛行，而如今這個潮流正席捲亞洲。

國際美容整形外科學會發布的數據顯示，若考慮人口因素，韓國現在是全世界整形美容業最大的市場。

在韓國首都首爾，20%年齡介於19到49歲的女性承認她們爲了改變樣貌，接受過美容整形手術。

最流行的整形手術包括雙眼皮手術——通過減少上眼瞼多餘的皮膚來使雙眼看起來更大，抽脂手術——運用高頻聲波來減肥，以及鼻子整形手術。

而在非手術整形中，注射肉毒桿菌和激光脫毛依然是最受歡迎的。

《經濟學人》的數據顯示，在2010年，亞洲的整形手術總量超過了580萬例，而在美國這個數字僅爲450萬多一點。

許多人認爲韓國流行音樂產業的崛起是這個整容熱潮背後的原因，許多人帶着明星的照片來到整形醫院，要求仿照明星的鼻型或眼睛來整容。

韓國最大的整形醫院之一，由權株創立的JK整形手術中心，近期開了一家旅館來更好地服務顧客。這些顧客每次看病人均花費17675美元。

急增的整形顧客中很多並不是韓國人，他們來自中國、日本、中東甚至非洲。韓國部長們認爲醫療旅遊將有助於推動韓國經濟發展。

但是，權先生警告年輕人在欲進行手術時應三思。

他告訴記者說：“我認爲，韓國對於美的定義很苛刻狹隘，因爲我們是一個種族單一的國家，每個人看上去都差不多。整容也和自卑情緒有關。”

“我認爲隨着社會變得更多元化，未來這個情況會在一定程度上得到改善。不過這需要一定的時間。”

去年，韓國教育部發布了一本手冊就整形手術綜合症對韓國高中生髮出了警告，引用了邁克爾•傑克遜以及一個韓國女性因對整形上癮導致臉部怪異浮腫的案例。