By Jury Roh
SEOUL (Reuters) – When Ryu Han-na, a 20-year-old university student, underwent cosmetic surgery on her nose in mid-December, she had a simple reason: this would be her last chance to come secretly before people started. Take off the mask when the vaccine is delivered this year.
Ryu, who has been ingline in her courses throughout 2020, said the ability to wear a mask in public without being distracted at home is determining factors.
“I’ve always wanted to get a nose job … I thought it would be best to get it before people start taking off their masks when the vaccine becomes available in 2021.” Process.
“There will be bruises and swelling from the surgery but we will all wear masks, I think this should help,” he added.
That trend is fueling the demand for such an operation in South Korea, which already had an experience in cosmetic surgery in 2020.
The country has been the world’s capital of cosmetic surgery even in times of non-epidemics. According to Gangnam Unni, the country’s largest cosmetic online cosmetic surgery platform, the industry will be valued at about 7 10.7 billion in 2020, an increase of 9.2% year-on-year and expected to be around .8 11.8 billion this year.
Cosmetic surgeons say patients are interested in all parts of the face: those that can be easily hidden under a mask, such as the nose and lips, as well as those who do not hide facial ingots, which some people consider aesthetic criteria. Coronavirus era.
“Both surgical and non-surgical inquiries about the eye, eyebrows, nose bridge and forehead – the only visible parts – have certainly increased,” said Park Cheol-woo, a surgeon at the Wuheian Plastic Surgery Clinic in charge of Rue’s operation.
Surgeon Shin Sang-ho, who runs a Christmas plastic surgery clinic in the center of Gangnam district, said many people have spent their emergency incentive payments from the government in revenue-generating hospitals and clinics in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.
“I felt like it was like spending revenge. I felt like consumers were expressing paint-up feelings (from coronavirus) by getting cosmetic procedures.”
Government figures show that out of 1.2 trillion winnings (.9 12.95 billion) of government cash handouts, 10. %% was used in hospitals and pharmacies, the third largest segment by classification behind supermarkets and rest restaurants, although Details of the hospital types have not been disclosed.
Gangnam Unni data shows that its users increased from about a year ago to about 2.6 million last year. They requested 1 million consultation sessions, double the amount a year earlier.
The epidemic made it difficult to promote services for foreign customers, so in the last year it has become more local and regional focused.
But the third wave of coronavirus at home remains worrisome, as record-breaking cases are reported every day in the country.
“We’ve recently seen a growing number of voids in counseling appointments as people avoid going out more … especially suburban clients who have largely postponed their surgeries until 2021,” Park said.
For South Korea’s annual estimated cosmetic procedure market size graphic:
https://graphics.reilers.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/SOUTHKOREA-COSMETICSURGERY/rlgpdqggwvo/chart.png
(Reporting by Jury Roh. Edited by Gary Doll)
