S. Korea’s plastic surgery fad goes extreme

South Korea’s obsession with plastic surgery is moving on from standard eye and nose jobs to embrace a radical surgical procedure that requires months of often painful recovery.

A stream of celebrities boast on TV shows how it gave them a “new life,” while advertisements extolling its cosmetic benefits are everywhere from street billboards to subway stations, magazines and popular Internet sites.

But there’s nothing really “cosmetic” about double-jaw surgery.

A radical solution to congenital facial deformities or for people unable to chew properly due to excessive over or underbite, the operation involves realigning the upper and lower jaws.

One result of the bone-cutting procedure is often a slimmer jawline ― and that’s what caught the attention of South Korea’s booming beauty industry.

A small face with a “V-shaped” chin and jawline is considered a mark of feminine beauty in much of East Asia, along with a high-bridged nose and big eyes.

“This surgery alters your look far more dramatically than, say, Botox or a nose job because it changes your entire facial bone structure,” said Choi Jin-young, a professor in dentistry at Seoul National University.

“But it’s a very complex, potentially dangerous surgery ... it’s disturbing to see people with no real dental flaws daring to go through it just to have a small, pretty face,” Choi told AFP.


해석


우리 나라 사람들의 성형수술에 대한 집착이 통상적인 눈이나 코 수술을 벗어나 종종 수 개월 동안 고통을 참기도 해야 하는 극단적인 수술을 포용하는 쪽으로 변모하고 있다.

유명 연예인들은 TV에 잇달아 출연해 성형수술 덕분에 어떻게 ‘새 인생’을 살게 됐는지 자랑하고 있고, 성형수술이 주는 미용의 혜택을 격찬하는 광고들은 거리의 게시판나 지하철, 잡지, 유명 인터넷 사이트 등 도처에 깔려 있다.

하지만 양악 수술에는 ‘미용적’인 것이 정말 전혀 없다.

(코리아헤럴드 5월 29일자 12면)
천성우 코리아헤럴드 선임기자 (swchun@heraldcorp.com)