Plastic surgery in South Korea is so good people need new ID to prove who they are

Wowza! Now that’s what we call a new look.

We’re all so used to seeing pictures of botched cosmetic surgery, it’s easy to forget that it can ever be good. But it really, really can.
And totally winning at plastic surgery right now is South Korea.
In fact some South Korean surgeons are so skilled, it’s causing their patients problems.
South Korea is fast becoming the cosmetic surgery capital of the world, not least because of the large number of clients who pop over for a little nip and tuck from neighbouring China and Japan.
The problem occurs when these surgery tourists try returning home.
It seems that some of the transformations are so extreme, the patients no longer resemble their passport pictures. At all.

Same, same, but different.

According to the China Daily, in 2009 23 women had problems getting back into the country.
A boarder official explained: ‘After they took off their huge hats and big sunglasses following our request, we saw them looking differently, with bandages and stitches here and there.’
‘We had to compare their uncorrected parts with their photos very carefully with our eyes and machines.’
And the problem is only getting worse.

Spot the difference

Kotaku have reported that this problem is now so common, some South Korean hospitals have started providing ‘plastic surgery certificates’ so patients can prove they are who they say they are.
We’re not surprised.  We’ve seen a lot of before and after surgery shots in our lives, but these really are pretty dramatic.
Can’t. Stop. Staring.