Rhinoplasty clinics in Seoul: four compared

Rhinoplasty comes second among patients in one count of cosmetic operations in Korea and fourth in another. This page compares four Seoul clinics that offer it. For each one it sets out what the clinic says about itself, under the same headings, and then what three public listings say about it. What goes inside the nose, how a revision differs from a first operation and how long the swelling lasts are covered in rhinoplasty in Korea, which is worth reading first; this page does not repeat it.

How the four were checked

The four clinics follow in alphabetical order. Three are in Gangnam-gu and one, Laree, is in neighbouring Seocho-gu. All four are registered as clinics (의원) rather than hospitals. Their own pages were read on 25 October 2026, in English and Korean, and each was looked up the same day in three public listings:

• The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) runs a hospital information service that lists, for every institution, its facilities along with its doctors and specialists, broken down by specialty. These numbers come from what the institution itself has reported, and HIRA points out that the number of doctors varies according to daily staffing.
• The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (KSPRS) has a specialist search by name. Absence from it does not by itself show a lack of certification, since the listing probably reflects society membership; a matching entry shows that the society lists that surgeon at that clinic.
• The medicalkorea registry, run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, shows whether a clinic is registered to attract foreign patients. Registration requires clinics to have at least one specialist in every department they register for foreign patients, as well as malpractice insurance.

For a comparison of the same kind for the eyes, see eyelid surgery clinics in Seoul.

DOY JUN Plastic Surgery

Who operates. DOY JUN (도이준성형외과의원) is on the 12th floor of the Urbanhive building, 476 Gangnam-daero, Nonhyeon-dong. Exit 3 of Sinnonhyeon Station on Line 9 connects directly to the building’s second basement. It is open on weekdays from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 17:00. Its home page calls it an “anti-aging specialty clinic”; HIRA registers it as a clinic (의원). The doctors page names three plastic surgery specialists and one anaesthesiologist. The representative director, Dr Lee Seungjun, lists a master’s degree from Yonsei University College of Medicine and specialist training at Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital. Dr Kang Byungkwon lists a degree from Seoul National University and a plastic surgery residency at its hospital. Dr Seol Sunghoon lists a degree from Hallym University and specialist training at Pyeongchon Sacred Heart Hospital. Dr Lee and Dr Kang also list earlier posts at other clinics. The anaesthesiologist is Dr Park Yujin. The clinic says the plastic surgeon you consult takes personal responsibility for your care from consultation through surgery and recovery.

What it says it does. The English menu lists first-time nose surgery, alar reduction, surgery by nose type, men’s nose surgery and functional nose surgery. The home page names nose surgery as one of six signature areas, with eye surgery, liposuction combined with Renuvion, double chin, lifting and fat grafting.

Anaesthesia. According to the home page, an anaesthesiologist is present at the clinic. On the Korean nose pages, either local anaesthesia or sedation (부분/수면마취) is offered. The doctors page notes one-to-one care and CCTV recording.

Price. DOY JUN publishes a table of non-covered fees, which it says the Medical Service Act requires. Every row is dated 25 February 2026, with figures in minimum and maximum columns. Surgery on the nasal bridge and tip (“Nasal bridge & tip”) runs from 890,000 to 6,000,000 won. The table marks medication as not included and does not mention VAT. Under the Medical Service Act, a clinic may not charge more than the non-covered fees it has posted.

Patients from abroad. English, Japanese, simplified Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Mongolian and Indonesian versions are available on the site. A notice on the English pages states that they are translated from the Korean site and that details ought to be confirmed at the consultation. On the English site, you can get in touch by phone, email, a WhatsApp chat link, Instagram or a booking form. A route from Incheon Airport is provided on the location page: the Airport Railroad to Gimpo Airport Station, then the Line 9 express to Sinnonhyeon. Interpreters and international coordinators are not mentioned on the pages.

Public records. Three doctors appear on the HIRA list, and every one of them is a plastic surgery specialist. No anaesthesiology specialist is listed, even though one is named on the site. Its facility list shows a single operating room. In the KSPRS directory, Dr Lee is listed at DOY JUN, while Dr Kang and Dr Seol are listed with no clinic. No record appears under the DOY JUN name in the medicalkorea registry. When the business registration number in the clinic’s footer is looked up, it returns a record under another clinic name, 밴스성형외과의원, at the same address and floor, and that clinic is listed in the registry with a representative whose name matches DOY JUN’s. That name is not mentioned on the DOY JUN site, which makes no registration claim.

Hyundai Aesthetic Surgery

Who operates. Hyundai Aesthetic Surgery (현대미학성형외과의원) is on the second and sixth floors of the Suil Building, 114 Dosan-daero, Nonhyeon-dong, directly in front of exit 1 of Sinsa Station on Line 3. It is open on weekdays from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 16:00. Its English site also calls it Hyundai Aesthetics in headings. The doctors page names four doctors: the chief director, Dr Ho Hwang, with Dr Kang In Ho and Dr Yang Hee Sang, each described as a board-certified plastic surgeon; and Dr Kim Dong Hwan, described as a board-certified neurosurgeon with a doctorate. It gives no schooling or training for any of them. The Korean doctors page tells readers that anyone can check plastic surgery certification in the society’s specialist search.

What it says it does. The English home page lists nose surgery as one of five signature areas, made up of what it calls High-fit, droopy nose, hump nose and revision rhinoplasty. The menu tags hump nose and revision rhinoplasty as “HOT” and lists men’s nose surgery in its men’s surgery section. The clinic’s menus also cover eye, lip, lifting, facial contouring, body and skin treatments.

Anaesthesia. The anaesthesia page says anaesthesiology specialists are on site, and describes what it calls a “1:3 Care System” of operating surgeon, anaesthesiologist and dedicated nurse. No anaesthesiologist is named on the doctors page. The same page lists an oximeter, a patient monitoring system and gas and steam sterilisers, and says patients having breast, facial contouring, fat-related or other procedures under general anaesthesia have blood tests, an electrocardiogram and a chest X-ray beforehand. The site does not say which anaesthesia it uses for nose surgery.

Price. Nose surgery has no stated figure. According to the Korean nose price page, the cost is set out once the materials and how much correction is needed have been judged, and VAT is charged on top. Figures appear on the clinic’s Korean price pages for just two skin-lifting treatments. On the English home page, a model-recruitment offer advertises up to 30 per cent off surgery fees, and the English skin page states that a precise estimate comes at a free one-to-one consultation.

Patients from abroad. The Korean home page links separate sites in English, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Russian, Indonesian and Mongolian. Consultation is by phone, online or KakaoTalk. The English forms ask for a WhatsApp number, but we found no WhatsApp chat link, and messages to the online consultation board are posted privately, with replies readable only after logging in. The hours page gives airport limousine bus 6009 from stop 11B at Incheon Airport to its first stop, Sinsa-dong. The English skin page mentions a 24-hour emergency contact line and an aftercare programme. The pages do not mention interpreters or coordinators.

Public records. HIRA lists three doctors, all plastic surgery specialists, against the four doctors named on the site and the anaesthesiologists it describes as on site; HIRA lists no neurosurgeon and no anaesthesiology specialist. Its facility list shows no operating room, although the site describes operations under general anaesthesia. The KSPRS directory lists Dr Hwang and Dr Kang at Hyundai Aesthetic Surgery, and Dr Yang at another clinic. The medicalkorea registry shows the clinic as registered to attract foreign patients.

Laree Plastic Surgery

Who operates. Laree (라리성형외과의원) is on the eighth floor of K-Tower, 621 Gangnam-daero, Jamwon-dong, about a minute’s walk from exit 5 of Sinsa Station. The road is Gangnam-daero, but the address is in Seocho-gu. The Korean directions page warns that the clinic has moved, in a notice dated 31 March 2026. It is open on weekdays from 10:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 16:00. Its staff page names three plastic surgery specialists. The medical director and representative, Dr Kim Jungil, lists membership of IPRAS and ISAPS, two international plastic surgery societies. Dr Kim Hojun lists a degree from the Catholic University of Korea, residency at the Catholic Medical Center and international membership of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Dr Yoon Sihyun lists specialist training at Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital. A fourth doctor, Dr Min Taekki, is listed as a consulting anaesthesiologist. The clinic says every operation is performed by the responsible specialist under a named-surgeon policy.

What it says it does. The English site carries the heading “Eye & Nose Surgery in Sinsa, Seoul”. Among its eight signature procedures is nose revision; eye operations make up most of the remaining seven. Rhinoplasty, nose tip surgery and alar reduction also appear on the nose menu, and removal of foreign material is listed by the clinic. According to the Korean home page, its three specialists carry out eye revision, reversal of epicanthoplasty, monolid surgery and nose surgery themselves. All four programmes highlighted on that page are eye operations.

Anaesthesia. The Korean recovery page says every operation is done under sedation, with no inpatient stay. The pages describe the anaesthesiologist’s role in different words. The Korean home page says an anaesthesiology specialist handles the anaesthesia, and the English eye revision page says a board-certified anaesthesiologist manages it. The staff page calls Dr Min a consulting anaesthesiologist (마취 자문의), and the about page describes working with a consulting anaesthesiologist. The clinic lists CCTV in every operating room, an uninterruptible power supply, and real-time monitoring of oxygen saturation and heart rate.

Price. Laree publishes prices only in Korean, in images and their alt text in the home page’s carousel of current events. A first nose operation (라리 첫코수술) is listed there at 880,000 won, including VAT, with the anaesthesia fee charged separately. The English pages give no prices. Event prices can carry conditions: a November promotion linked from the same home page is for Korean nationals only and does not let you choose your surgeon. Ask whether the nose price applies to you.

Patients from abroad. The English site, reached from lareeps.com/en, runs on a site-builder subdomain. Its menu offers Japanese, simplified and traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Russian versions, which are Google machine translations of the English pages. Contact is by Naver booking, a cost inquiry, KakaoTalk or phone; the online consultation board needs a login. We found no WhatsApp, LINE or WeChat contact, and the pages do not mention interpreters or coordinators. The Korean recovery page has a section for patients who come from abroad for a short stay. It says the length of stay depends on the day stitches come out and the number of clinic visits, and for nose surgery it gives stitch removal 7 to 10 days after the operation and three or four clinic visits.

Public records. HIRA lists three doctors, all plastic surgery specialists, which matches the site’s count of surgeons. It lists no anaesthesiology specialist. Its facility list shows one operating room. The KSPRS directory lists Dr Kim Jungil at Laree, Dr Kim Hojun at another clinic and Dr Yoon with no clinic. The medicalkorea registry shows Laree as registered to attract foreign patients.

Sehyun Plastic Surgery

Who operates. Sehyun (세현성형외과의원) is on the fourth floor of the Medical Bank Building, 12 Apgujeong-ro 36-gil, Sinsa-dong, a five-minute walk from exit 2 of Apgujeong Station on Line 3. It is open on weekdays from 10:00 to 18:00 and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 16:00, and closed on Thursdays, Sundays and public holidays. It is a single-doctor clinic. The chief surgeon, Dr Yoo Hyun-seok, is described as a board-certified plastic surgeon with a doctorate in medicine and 30 years as a physician, and is responsible for consultation, surgery and aftercare in person. The clinic says this limits how many consultations and operations it can take each day. No medical school or training hospital is listed.

What it says it does. Revision rhinoplasty is the clinic’s lead topic. The English site is titled “Revision Rhinoplasty & Eye Surgery, Gangnam”, and the clinic lists its treatment areas as revision rhinoplasty, rhinoplasty, eye surgery, and anti-ageing and lifting. The Korean revision menu covers a contracted nose, an upturned nose, a pinched or pointed nose, and an implant that shows through or has bent. The rhinoplasty menu covers low, short, long, bulbous, hump and deviated noses, the columella, the nostrils, alar reduction and men’s noses. The clinic says it assesses the nasion, the facial bones and the tip cartilage, then plans the bridge and tip mainly with cartilage. In revisions, it says, it reuses cartilage from the earlier operation if it is in good condition and keeps rib cartilage as a last resort where possible. It usually schedules follow-up visits at 7 days, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after surgery.

Anaesthesia. No anaesthesiologist appears anywhere on the site. According to its rhinoplasty overview, both the anaesthesia and how long the operation lasts vary with what is being corrected, and each concern’s page states them. On the Korean hump nose page, for instance, roughly two and a half hours of sedation plus local anaesthesia is listed, with no overnight admission. General anaesthesia is not named on any page we read.

Price. Not published. The cost page says the cost is given after the consultation with Dr Yoo, and that questions about cost can be asked by phone, KakaoTalk or the online consultation board. A footer link to its list of non-covered fees opened only a notice reading “In ready.” when we tried it on 25 October 2026.

Patients from abroad. The site has Korean, English, Japanese, simplified Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian versions. Parts of the English site are untranslated: the English one-doctor page keeps Korean sentences, and the English revision rhinoplasty page has a Korean title. The consultation page offers phone, KakaoTalk, an online board and a booked one-to-one appointment with Dr Yoo. It says patients living overseas can leave a message on the online board, which Dr Yoo reads and answers personally. It sees consultations by appointment only, saying none can be given during surgery. We found no WhatsApp, LINE or WeChat contact, and the pages do not mention interpreters or coordinators. The directions page gives airport bus 6006 or 6006-1 to the Apgujeong Station or Hyundai Apartment stop.

Public records. HIRA shows a single doctor, a plastic surgery specialist, and this is consistent with the site. It shows no anaesthesiology specialist. One operating room appears on its facility list. Dr Yoo is listed at Sehyun in the KSPRS directory. In the medicalkorea registry, a search of the clinic’s business registration number brings up a record that the registry presents as a closed foreign-patient business (외국인환자유치사업 폐업 기관). No registration claim is made on the site itself.

Side by side

What none of the pages answers

Check the clinics’ pages against the registers, and three gaps become clear. First, HIRA lists no anaesthesiology specialist at any of the four, but DOY JUN and Hyundai Aesthetic Surgery say an anaesthesiologist is on site, and Laree says one consults there. HIRA lists the doctors a clinic reports, so an anaesthesiologist who visits rather than works there may not appear; ask which applies. Second, all three clinics that state the anaesthesia for nose surgery give sedation or local anaesthesia. Korea’s operating-room CCTV rule applies to patients who are unconscious, so a sedated operation may not be covered; is plastic surgery in Korea safe? explains what the rule requires and how to ask for a recording. Third, only two of the four are shown as registered for foreign patients under their own names.

Before paying a deposit anywhere, get these in writing:

• The operation and the material, named: implant, septal cartilage, ear cartilage or rib. Rhinoplasty in Korea explains why that choice lasts.
• Who operates and who gives the anaesthetic, with both names stated, along with whether the anaesthesiologist works for the clinic and stays for the full procedure. Check the surgeon yourself in the specialist directory, and read our piece on ghost surgery to understand why the name matters.
• An itemised price: surgeon, anaesthesia, materials, VAT, medication, follow-up and the cost of a revision. DOY JUN’s posted range for the bridge and tip runs from 890,000 to 6 million won, and Laree’s event price leaves out anaesthesia, so a single figure tells you little.
• How long to stay in Seoul. Laree takes nose stitches out 7 to 10 days after surgery and lists three or four visits, and Sehyun’s first follow-up is usually at 7 days. Confirm the date of the last visit you need before booking a flight; how long to stay in Korea for surgery sets out the reasoning.
• The foreign-patient registration that covers your treatment, given that Sehyun’s record shows as closed and DOY JUN’s business number brings up another clinic name.

How to choose a clinic in Korea covers these checks at greater length, the cost guide sets out why Korean surgery prices are published so rarely, and the checklist puts the questions onto a single page that you can carry into a consultation.