Travelers seek
beauty in Gangnam
Jenny
Cheng, a Chinese-American living in Las Vegas, stopped over in Korea last month
en route to China.
It was a brief stay of less than six hours, but enough to receive laser
wrinkle-removal thanks to several online consultations while in the U.S.
After the treatment, she went straight to the airport.
¡°There are a lot of Chinese people who are interested in plastic surgery
and skincare clinics in Korea. I also learned about it from a Chinese patient
who was treated in Seoul,¡± Cheng, 45, said in an email.
¡°I¡¯m very satisfied with the outcome.¡±
More than 80,000 short- or long-term visitors received medical treatment last
year in Korea, largely driven by the nation¡¯s skillful doctors and
relatively low costs.
The
growing popularity of K-pop in Asia, in particular, has boosted the numbers of
those who seek plastic surgery and other aesthetic treatments.
And many of them are flocking to Gangnam-gu, southern
Seoul, where more than half the plastic surgery and skincare clinics of Seoul
are located.
In addition to its abundant shopping and fashion attractions, the road
stretching from Sinsa-dong to Apgujeong-dong
is called the ¡°beauty belt¡± accommodating 430 clinics within the
district.
Cheng also received treatment in the Arumdaun Nara
Beauty Clinic, a Gangnam clinic which has seen a 20
percent increase in foreign patients every year.
¡°Some 200 foreign patients visit the clinic in a month. Affected by the
Korean Wave in Asia, most of them are Japanese and Chinese people. There are a
growing number of visitors from Central Asia and Eastern Europe as well,¡±
said Lee Sang-jun, the clinic¡¯s chairman.
¡°Young people prefer to have a major facial lift, while business
travelers favor anti-aging treatment that little affects their daily
activities,¡± he added.
A couple from Kazakhstan also received removal surgery for bags under their
eyes at the clinic.
¡°We were a little worried before the surgery. But coordinators at the
clinic helped us a lot and we feel great now after the treatment,¡± said
the husband, an eye doctor.
Lee said ¡°trust-building¡± is the key to treatment of foreign
patients.
¡°Other than medical technique, which is the very basic thing, we try to
relieve concerns of foreign patients in the whole process of procedures
here,¡± said Lee.
Like major medical institutions in Korea, the clinic has participated in the
Ministry of Health and Welfare¡¯s pilot program ¡°U-Health,¡±
which offers a variety of medical services before and after the treatment both
for domestic and overseas patients.
The language issue may be the most important concern when a foreign patient
considers visiting Korea for medical purposes.
Major clinics have already hired ¡°medical coordinators¡± fluent in
foreign languages, including native speakers, who are trained for serving
foreign patients.
Lee¡¯s clinic, which has run its multiple-language website, offers
interpretation services in six languages, including Chinese, Japanese, English,
French, Spanish and Russian.
In an effort to better help foreign visitors, Gangnam-gu
Office also dispatches its 47 special coordinators when there is a request from
a clinic within the district.
One of them is Seo Do-young who has
worked at the district¡¯s community health center since last May.
¡°We try to assist foreign patients from their arrival here to departure
to their home country. After the medical treatment, we sometimes help them with
sightseeing and shopping in the city,¡± said Seo,
who studied the Chinese language and medical tourism in China.
¡°Chinese patients show trust with the quality of Korean medical
techniques. Their concerns are more about cultural differences such as food. We
try to make them feel comfortable,¡± she said.
Cho Mi-kyung, chairman of S&U Clinic in Apgujeong-dong, has just started treating foreign patients,
holding promotional events abroad together with local agencies.
Still, most of the clinic¡¯s clientele are overseas Koreans. But more
Japanese and Chinese patients are visiting the clinic, she said.
¡°Japanese patients are very careful. It felt rewarding when a Japanese
mother who was treated at our clinic visited again together with her
daughter,¡± she said.
¡°Amid an aesthetic boom among foreign visitors here, it would not be easy
for them to find quality institutions. For them, the Gangnam-gu
Office¡¯s website offers a useful tip,¡± she added.
According to Cho, who is also a member of a Gangnam
hospitals¡¯ association targeting foreign patients, the district office
introduces a list of quality clinics on its multi-language website at http://global.gangnam.go.kr.
Source: The Korea Herald