Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JongnoGuru]

[twg]

[periwinkle]

That was funny, OP. It made me wonder how much harrassment she'd encounter if she were out and about and dressed like that in real life, though.

[europe2seoul]

[JongnoGuru]

[rothkowitz]

Kiwi co-worker showed me pics of his gf in Myoung-dong wearing nothing from the waist up but blue paint.Heir to a certain biscuit fortune.Pity the poor bored idle rich.

Got painted at home with her friend(?I think there were 2),then took the train downtown.

Said Koreans thought it was uproariously funny.

[tsgarp]

All this over a stupid movie trailer.

[periwinkle]

[Troll_Bait]

[Troll_Bait]

Propelled to the Top by 200 Pounds

[SPINOZA]

plastic surgery procedures per capita according to 2002 Nationmaster stats

[twg]

[Real Reality]

The hot new gift for parents: surgery
Instead of showering parents with carnations or cash to show love and respect, children today are taking a 21st-Century approach for Parents' Day gifts: cosmetic surgery.
by Chung Kang-hyun, JoongAng Daily (May 06, 2006)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200605/05/200605052220430639900090409041.html

Republic of Plastic Surgery
Chung Sung-hee, Editorial Writer, Donga.com (August 22, 2006)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2006082255668

The price of beauty in South Korea
By conservative estimates, 50% of South Korean women in their 20s have had some form of cosmetic surgery. And in a recent poll, 70% of men said they would also consider surgical improvements.
By Charles Scanlon, BBC News, South Korea (February 3, 2005)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4229995.stm

[rothkowitz]

[4 months left]

I'd say face of a hound but nice body for a Korean.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200701/kt2007011217413611990.htm

Koreans Make Over to Move Up


By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The great swirl of lookism, prejudice on the grounds of appearance, is growing and driving more and more people to cosmetic surgery. Beauty _ at any cost _ is becoming a near obsession for young professionals.

Hundreds of plastic surgery offices line the boulevard in Apgujong-dong, southern Seoul, and they are pulling out all the stops to draw people in.

Some clinics offer discounts _ a 1.5 million-won nose job could cost half the price if there�s a special. Some doctors allow patients to schedule consultations online.

According to a recent survey of 1,021 adults conducted by medical magazine General Hospital, 31.4 percent of 500 male respondents and 51.5 percent of 521 female respondents are planning to get cosmetic surgery.

Reasons cited were looking at the mirror; seeing friends, actors or actresses looking better after receiving surgery; and wanting to get a date.

Men primarily planned changes to their skin or nose, and most women planned eyelid or skin treatments, the survey said.

A survey conducted by job portal site Career showed that it�s not just personal taste that drives people to the operating table. Of the 1,133 respondents with jobs who were interviewed, half said they wanted surgery to get a job or switch jobs.

Park, a 25-year-old who had studied Korean traditional dancing from age 7, said she quit dancing because she couldn�t stand the pressure to attain a certain look. ``Once my instructor came up to me saying my nose needed to be mended. She said if I get my nose fixed, I would place much higher in the field. I was already on an extreme diet, and I didn�t want to hurt myself anymore, so I quit,�� she said.

It seems to be accepted knowledge that better looks will help people get better jobs and more status.

``It�s up to individuals whether to get cosmetic surgery or not,�� Jung Eun-ji of Korea Womenlink said. ``But if it�s a society of lookism that pushes them to want it, and it means a big trouble.��

Womenlink lectured about lookism to more than 2,000 students in 20 middle schools and high schools. Jung said she was surprised to find that so many youngsters already had beauty icons and were trying to mold their appearance to fit their ideals.

``They wanted the face of Han Ga-in, an actress, and body of Jun Ji-hyun, a model and actress,�� she said.

Most of the students said they were aware of lookism, and half of them were planning to get cosmetic surgery, Jung said.

``The age of patients is going down,�� Kim Geun-hye of Chung Il-bong Cosmetic Surgery in Kangnam-gu, Seoul, said.

She said that more teenagers have been coming to the clinic for surgery. ``But we do not give surgery to minors because we believe they keep growing until they are 20 and it won�t be too late to decide then,�� she said.

Patients may be getting younger, but older women have been caught up in the plastic surgery craze, too. More women in their 40s or 50s are getting plastic surgery in an effort to maintain their beauty and youth. They often get facelifts or redo eyelid surgeries.

``We say if you cannot stop time from passing, make it slow,�� Kim, a woman in her 40s, said, jokingly.

One plastic surgeon said half of the patients that come to his clinics are middle-aged women. ``They seem to aim for youth in their lives,�� he said. ``These days the techniques are really good, and there are many ways to look younger naturally.��

Botox and fat injections are just some of the techniques doctors use to take away the appearance of age.

Unilever, a multinational company that sells primarily health and personal care products and food, reported in 2005 that only 1 percent of Korean women think they are beautiful and 43 percent think they are too fat.

``It sounds like a cliche, but everyone is beautiful in different ways,�� Jung of Womenlink said. ``Not everyone needs to look pretty in one rigid way, and it�s important for people to know that they are worth respect without having to cut their flesh or do something to their body.��