Visitors Flock to Incheon Airport For Operations, Plastic Surgery

--A tour to get plastic surgery

On June 30, 46-year-old Ms. Kim residing in Los Angeles, U.S., went to see a plastic surgeon in the Gangnam district in Seoul along with her 21-year-old daughter.

Kim spent about 3 million won excluding accommodations and flights for her liposuction and her daughter’s eyelid surgery.

“Surgery in the U.S. fails more often and is more costly,” said Kim. “I visited here on a Korean American’s recommendation.”

Almost 50 percent of the clinic’s clients are so-called Gyopos, or Koreans living abroad. The number more than doubled this year.

A person at the clinic said, “Though many Gyopos have visited us during vacation, the number surged this year. But the number of Korean clients dropped due to the economic recession.”

Cosmetic surgery, skin care and anti-aging clinics were hit hard by the recent economic slowdown, but Gyopos are replacing native Koreans as customers.

A growing number of students studying abroad, who are usually well off, come to Korea during vacation to get surgery done.

“Many parents call their kids to come home. This group of clients spends 4 million to 5 million before they go back,” said a chief at a skin care clinic in Gangnam.

Ophthalmologist Lim, who runs a clinic in Gangnam and over 10 percent of whose Lasik clients are Gyopos, said, “As the number of Gyopo clients who visit Korea during vacation to undergo an operation increases, many clinics now post their names and numbers in local newspapers for Koreans living abroad, or in local yellow pages.”