Asia Pacific - South Korea: Cosmetic Procedures Market

Photo credit : Cosmetic Business

Report 2017
By Jens Kastner 22-Sep-2017
Asia | Body

South Korea has long been a favourite destination for cosmetic surgery tourists, but political tension is prompting surgeons to travel to other countries to perform procedures

When the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) released its annual set of global statistics in June 2017, and South Korea was not among the world’s 24 countries that performed the most cosmetic procedures in 2016, there was considerable surprise. ISAPS has since confirmed to Cosmetics Business that South Korea was not listed owing to data not coming in on time.

Photo credit : Cosmetic Business

In fact, South Korea’s cosmetic surgery market, composed of more than 2,000 plastic surgery clinics, with an estimated total revenue of US$10bn (source: Eunogo) has regularly made ISAPS’s top five countries for the number of cosmetic procedures in the current decade.
South Korea’s market has been driven by an extremely beauty-conscious citizenship and an inflow of foreign customers drawn by the country’s cosmetic surgery sector’s continually strengthening reputation as an innovative and quality service provider. Indeed, ISAPS data for 2015 shows that South Korea was the third biggest market globally with a total of 1,156,234 procedures and only topped by Brazil at number two and the US at number one.



 

Photo credit : ID Placosmetic

Launch highlight: ID PLA Cosmetic Co Ltd
In January 2017, ID PLA Cosmetic Co Ltd, a member of the Seoul-based ID Group which covers plastic surgery, dermatology, dental and cosmetics, launched Face Fit T.A.V line. The cosmetic products were developed by ID’s head doctor Park Sang-Hoon, who specialises in facial bone plastic surgery.
The series is comprised of T, A and V Fit-lers, cosmetic products which are designed to provide a slim facial V-line without surgery, and a Face Fit CU-V Tensioning Sleeping pack that should be used together with the Fit-lers. The T Fit-ler is claimed to bring a volume effect to the T zone (forehead, nose bridge) with the main ingredient being hyaluronic acid; the A Fit-ler gives a moisturizing effect to the A zone (cheekbone area) with PDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide) as the main ingredient; and the V Fit-ler is designed for the V zone (double chin) to give a slim and defined jaw line.

Photo credit : ID Hospital

Medical tourism boom

Expert Interview: Dr Park Sang-Hoon
Cosmetics Business speaks to Dr Park Sang-Hoon, founder and head doctor of ID Hospital, a plastic surgery hospital in Seoul

Q. How has ID Hospital’s customer pool evolved in recent years?

A. Since I founded the clinic in 2004, the customer base has evolved from Korean patients only to more international patients from over 55 different countries. Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Americans make up the bulk of foreign patients. Also, the gender ratio has changed greatly. Whereas in the old days almost all customers were women, men are now making up 30% of the total. Among the main motivations for Korean customers are upcoming marriages and job interviews.

Q. Which types of procedures are seeing an increase in demand? How do you explain these trends?

A. Since we are a specialist bone surgery hospital, facial contouring surgery, such as V-line surgery and cheekbone reduction, are steady sellers. Recently a lot of people have been visiting ID Hospital to get eyebrow bone shaving, hairline forehead reduction and forehead augmentation to achieve a more feminine look. There is generally increasing demand for noninvasive surgeries, with patients always being on the lookout for the least-invasive procedure possible.

Q. What is your newest procedure and what does it offer patients that is different?

A. The slimming programs from ID Dermatology offers our newest range of procedures aimed at non-invasive slimming procedures. Usually, if you think about slimming programs, you will expect big incisions with scars. However, our non-invasive procedure helps patients to return to daily life faster through injections, laser and high frequency waves.

Prospective patients are looking for treatments and procedures that offer shorter recovery periods and minimized incision scars.