Too poor for plastic surgery, Korean teens try DIY methods

SEOUL, South Korea In the heart of Seoul's famous Gangnam neighborhood lies the Beauty Belt, a grouping of streets lined with hundreds of cosmetic surgery joints.

Untold numbers of Koreans as well as Chinese and Southeast Asian tourists have trekked to this district, seeking a pointed nose, rounded eyes, a slimmer jaw line and even agentler smile,considered graceful in some East Asian countries.

South Koreans are the most cosmetically enhanced people in the world, according to theInternational Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. In this hyper-competitive society, plastic surgery is often seen as a prerequisite to job and relationship success.

But what if you can't afford these high-end clinics?

Turns out, there's an alternative: do-it-yourself cosmetic enhancements.

It's popular among anxious Korean teens who lack the funds to purchase the rarified good looks plastered on subway and bus advertisements.Taken together, a VIP package of procedures such as an eye lift, nose job, and even apopular jawbone-cutting operationcan fetch more than $10,000.

Impatient for such treatments, these youngsters are taking the burden upon themselves to craft a better face. Enter the DIY craze, a potentially hazardous fad among high school friends who self-apply cheap and scantily regulated tools bought online.

The process usually doesn't involve self-mutilation (although there are exceptions). But cosmetic surgeons insist it is potentially dangerous because it involves trying to contort and manipulate bodies that have not fully matured offering the potential for harm.

Na and Choi, both 17, toldGlobalPostthat two years ago, after seeing Korean talk show guests demonstrate various shape-changing gadgets, they started buying the products online. Since then, they have suffered all sorts of facial injuries thankfully, none of them permanent.

We want to become pretty without spending all the money, said Na. We know that these methods aren't approved of, but lots of our peers do it. Girls [in our all-girls school] like girls who look pretty. At times, the patients are as young as 12 or 13.

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Too poor for plastic surgery, Korean teens try DIY methods