Under-eye surgery in Seoul: five clinics compared

Bags under the eyes are mostly fat that has pushed forward from behind the lower lid, often with a hollow below it, the tear trough, that deepens the shadow. Surgeons deal with it in three ways: they remove some of the fat, they move it down into the hollow, or they make a cut below the lashes and trim loose skin as well. This page sets out what five Seoul clinics that offer these operations to patients from abroad publish about them, under the same headings for each, and what none of them publishes. For the upper lid, see eyelid surgery in Seoul: five clinics compared.

Link, NANA, VIEW and Wonjin appeared in English search results for under-eye fat repositioning and under-eye surgery in Korea and have English pages about it. Four are in Gangnam-gu and Wonjin is in neighbouring Seocho-gu. The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) lists all five as clinics (의원), although NANA and Wonjin call themselves hospitals in English. Everything below comes from the clinics’ own pages, read on 1 October 2026, from HIRA’s record of the doctors each reports, from the member directory of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (KSPRS), and from the sources listed at the foot of the page.

Three operations, one decision

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) describes two routes into the lower lid. A cut just below the lash line lets the surgeon remove excess skin and reposition or remove fat. A transconjunctival cut, on the inside of the lid, lets the surgeon redistribute or remove fat, and with this route no skin is removed. ASPS says stitches, where used, come out within a week, and that the anaesthetic options are intravenous sedation or general anaesthesia. The clinics below choose between these in broadly the same way: moving fat that bulges over a hollow, and removing skin as well only when it has loosened. They differ on the route for removing skin. The Swan, Link and NANA describe a cut below the lashes; VIEW and Wonjin describe removing skin but name only a cut inside the lid, without explaining how.

The risk most specific to the lower lid is that it ends up lower than it should, pulling down to show white below the iris or, in ectropion, turning outward. ASPS lists ectropion, lid lag and dry eyes among the risks, along with the possible need for revision. A 2025 systematic review of 36 studies, each with at least 50 patients followed for a year, found lid malposition rates from 0 to 12 per cent and ectropion from 0 to 11.3 per cent across studies, and reoperation from 0 to 9 per cent, with most studies under 3 per cent. Almost all the studies were observational and too varied to pool. A second 2025 review of 24 cohort studies and 3,623 patients found no significant difference in total complications between the skin route (6.6 per cent of 182 patients) and the inside route (5.6 per cent of 2,266), though the groups were very unequal in size, and its authors note that malposition can follow either. For fat grafting and repositioning specifically, a 2024 meta-analysis of 33 studies and 4,671 patients put total complications at 11.2 per cent, an unsatisfactory or irregular result at 6.2 per cent and reoperation at 2.4 per cent.

In Korea, eye surgery was the largest single category in an analysis by the Korea Consumer Agency of 147 complaints about side effects or poor results from cosmetic treatment in 2019 and 2020, at 23.1 per cent. That is a share of complaints, not a complication rate, and it does not separate the upper and lower lids.

How the five compare

Each clinic is set out under the same seven headings: who operates, what it offers, anaesthesia, stitches and recovery, the complications it names, price, what it offers patients from abroad, and public records. The Swan comes first, and the other four follow in alphabetical order.

The Swan Plastic Surgery

Who operates. The Swan (더스완성형외과의원) is on the fourth floor of the Suji Building, 7 Teheran-ro 51-gil, near exit 5 of Seolleung Station. It says it is a single-surgeon clinic: Dr Hwang Sung-ho, described as a plastic surgery specialist who trained at Pusan National University and at Severance, performs both first and revision lower-lid operations. The clinic’s self-reported count of 28,750 revision cases is described as double eyelid revisions on one page and as including under-eye work on another. The home page says the clinic opened in 2004; the procedure pages say Dr Hwang began practising that year.

What it offers. The Swan has no English page on under-eye surgery; everything here is from its Korean pages. Its repositioning page describes moving bulging fat into the tear trough through the inside of the lid, with no skin incision, mainly for people in their 20s to 40s with firm skin, and removing fat alone only where there is a lot of it and no hollow. Its lower blepharoplasty page describes a cut 1 to 2 mm below the lashes to deal with fat, loose skin and fine wrinkles, mainly in middle age. Fat grafting and tightening of the orbital septum, the thin membrane in front of the fat, are added case by case, and lower-lid revision is listed among its operations. A page on dark circles says surgery treats only the structural type, not pigmentation, and a comparison page cites four studies, including the 2025 review above. The site is not consistent about what repositioning does: the repositioning page says the fat is moved instead of removed, while the under-eye hub describes both operations as removing the fat pocket, and a 2022 column by the clinic describes removing unneeded fat.

Anaesthesia, stitches and recovery. The current pages do not state the type of anaesthesia or the operating time and leave them to the consultation; a 2022 column on the site gives about an hour under sedation and discharge on the day. After repositioning, the inside wound closes without stitches or with dissolving ones; major swelling settles over one to two weeks and the result over one to three months. After lower blepharoplasty, stitches come out at about day five to seven and the scar is checked at three to six months. The time to return to daily life varies by page: five days in the 2022 column, one to two weeks for most activities on the repositioning page, and two to three weeks in the hub’s FAQ. The hub lists follow-up by the operating surgeon at one week, one month, three months and a year, and elsewhere on the same page a four-stage programme ending at six months. No figure is given for time in Seoul.

Complications it names. For lower blepharoplasty, ectropion or more white showing below the eye if too much skin is removed, which the page calls the reason excision planning matters most, plus temporary dryness or watering, bruising, swelling, asymmetry and variable scarring. For repositioning, uneven volume, recurrence or lumpiness if the fat is not held well, and temporary swelling, redness and dryness of the inside of the lid. It also warns that removing fat without filling the hollow can leave a shadow. The hub page carries a banner saying side effects such as the lid turning out and fat necrosis are “greatly reduced” (매우 줄임), while the clinic’s information pages say it avoids exaggerated claims about results or safety under Article 56 of the Medical Service Act.

Price. The Swan’s fee page, last changed on 5 June 2025, lists repositioning at 1.5 to 1.8 million won, and 2 to 2.5 million won for a tier labelled “Mendelson” (멘델손) that the site does not explain. Prices include VAT, materials and medication. No price is listed for lower blepharoplasty with a skin incision, fat removal, fat grafting or revision; the page says it discloses 14 eye operations, and lower blepharoplasty is not among them.

Patients from abroad. The international page has one paragraph in English and gives contact by phone, KakaoTalk channel or Naver TalkTalk. Languages, interpreters and coordinators are not mentioned.

Public records. HIRA names a single doctor, who is a plastic surgery specialist. No operating room appears in HIRA’s listing, though the clinic’s own page states that it has one. In the KSPRS directory, Dr Hwang is recorded under The Swan. An active entry for the clinic exists in the medicalkorea registry.

Link Plastic Surgery

Who operates. Link (링크성형외과의원) is on the fourth floor of the Jewoo Building, 478 Gangnam-daero, three minutes from exit 3 of Sinnonhyeon Station on Line 9. Its pages do not give an opening year. Two surgeons, Dr Sung Ha Min and Dr Jung Min Su, are each described as a board-certified plastic surgeon with a doctorate. The English under-eye page names Dr Jung; the Korean page names both. Dr Sung’s Korean profile lists an earlier post at Wonjin, another clinic in this comparison.

What it offers. The English page compares fat removal, for bulging fat with no hollow, warning that removing too much can leave the eye hollow with age; repositioning, for bulging fat with a sunken tear trough, which it calls the most common case; and lower blepharoplasty, for bulging fat and hollows with loose skin, which the Korean page says is mostly for patients over 50. The blepharoplasty page says the cut is made below the lashes or inside the lid. No page covers lower-lid revision.

Anaesthesia, stitches and recovery. Repositioning takes about 30 minutes under intravenous sedation with local anaesthetic, with no external stitches; bruising and swelling last five to seven days, and most people return to daily activity within a week. The same page says the brightening effect shows at four to six weeks and the final contour settles at three to six months. Lower blepharoplasty takes 30 minutes to an hour, with stitches out at seven days, bruising for one to two weeks and a return to work in 10 to 14 days. For time in Seoul, the repositioning page recommends five to seven days, but the clinic’s medical tourism page says two to three days is usually enough; after lower blepharoplasty it recommends at least seven.

Complications it names. For repositioning: swelling, bruising, asymmetry, under- or over-correction, dry eyes and irritation; less often prolonged swelling, an irregular contour or the lower lid pulling down; and, uncommonly, bleeding behind the eye (retrobulbar haematoma). For lower blepharoplasty, ectropion as a rare but known risk.

Price. Not published; the Korean page says it depends on the extent of surgery. The clinic does publish its booking terms: an online video consultation costs 50 US dollars, paid in advance, a 1,000-dollar deposit secures a surgery date, and patients who go ahead after a video consultation get 20 per cent off the surgery fee.

Patients from abroad. In-house English, Mandarin and Japanese, contact by WhatsApp, KakaoTalk or LINE, and follow-up by WhatsApp after you go home.

Public records. HIRA lists two doctors, both plastic surgery specialists, and one operating room. Both surgeons are listed under Link in the KSPRS directory. The medicalkorea registry has an active record for its business number.

NANA Plastic Surgery

Who operates. NANA (나나성형외과의원) has moved to 406 Apgujeong-ro, Cheongdam-dong, in front of exit 3 of Apgujeong Rodeo Station. Its English site calls it a hospital; HIRA and its own footer register it as a clinic. Its pages do not give an opening year. The staff page lists 20 plastic surgeons, several of whom list lower blepharoplasty and fat repositioning among their work, but the repositioning page names no surgeon.

What it offers. Its English pages set out four choices: repositioning via the inside of the lid; fat removal, for when dark circles are mild and only fat protrudes; fat grafting, for when there is not enough fat to move; and lower blepharoplasty, with an incision just below the lashes, the muscle anchored to the bone, the outer corner of the lid secured if tone has been lost, and only surplus skin taken away. Lower-lid revision has a price but no page.

Anaesthesia, stitches and recovery. Repositioning takes 30 to 40 minutes under sedation, with stitches out at seven days and a return to daily life within a day; the same summary says no follow-up visits are needed, which does not fit with stitches to remove. The Korean page warns that swelling of the inside of the lid can take two to four weeks to go and that swelling settles over three to six months. Lower blepharoplasty takes an hour under sedation, with stitches out at five to seven days and one follow-up visit. No figure is given for time in Seoul.

Complications it names. Ectropion, which the lower blepharoplasty page says is often caused by removing too much skin; loss of surrounding fat after over-removal and lower survival of grafted fat; and, on the Korean page, swelling of the inside of the lid, small white cysts along the incision and uneven swelling.

Price. NANA’s Korean fee page is marked as revised on 14 June 2024, but its under-eye entries carry a last-change date of 1 April 2020: fat removal at 800,000 won, repositioning at 1.2 to 1.4 million won, lower blepharoplasty at 1.5 to 2.5 million won and lower-lid revision at 1.5 to 1.8 million won, all excluding VAT. Its Korean repositioning page advertises an event price of 990,000 won. The English pages give no prices.

Patients from abroad. Hotel booking, limousine pick-up and a WhatsApp number. The English footer describes NANA as accredited by Medical Korea; the registry shows it as registered to attract foreign patients but lists none of the five clinics here as evaluation-certified, which is a separate status.

Public records. HIRA lists 28 doctors, including 20 plastic surgery specialists and three anaesthesiology specialists; the English staff page lists 32, including eight in anaesthesia and two in dermatology, and HIRA lists no dermatology specialist. The surgeons we looked up appear in the KSPRS directory under NANA, most at its previous address. The medicalkorea registry has an active record for its business number.

VIEW Plastic Surgery

Who operates. VIEW (뷰성형외과의원) is at 107 Bongeunsa-ro, within 50 metres of exit 3 of Sinnonhyeon Station on Line 9, and dates its opening to 2005. The staff page lists seven board-certified plastic surgeons with eye surgery among their areas, but the under-eye page names none of them. Five of the seven appear in the KSPRS directory at VIEW; the other two names appear there at other clinics.

What it offers. Repositioning through the inside of the lid: ligaments holding the fat are released, the fat is moved into the tear trough and stitched, excess fat is removed if needed, and the clinic says placing the fat beneath the bone’s lining and tightening the orbital septum reduces recurrence. It says the operation is common from the 20s to the 50s. For lower blepharoplasty, for severe wrinkles or sagging skin, the page describes a small cut inside the lid and then removal of excess skin and fat; it does not explain how skin is removed through an inside cut, which ASPS says removes none. A clinic blog post calls repositioning the “gold standard” and claims its results are semi-permanent and typically last over 10 years.

Anaesthesia, stitches and recovery. The repositioning procedure lasts 30 minutes and needs no stitch removal; the English page mentions sedation and everyday activity from seven days onward, whereas the Korean page mentions local anaesthesia or sedation and going straight back to daily life. The summary for upper and lower blepharoplasty states one hour under sedation and no removal of stitches, yet the aftercare programme on that same page puts stitch removal at one week. No number is provided for time spent in Seoul.

Complications it names. Bruising, which may leave slight pigmentation if exposed to sun, and temporary dryness, tearing or sensitivity; the Korean page adds inflammation, bleeding and nerve damage. Lid malposition and ectropion are not mentioned on the pages we read.

Price. Not found in the text of its pages. VIEW’s Korean fee table lists upper blepharoplasty but no under-eye item; its events page lists repositioning and lower blepharoplasty with prices shown only in images, which we did not read.

Patients from abroad. Free online consultation and interpretation in ten languages, airport transfers, rooms inside the clinic building and partner hotels nearby.

Public records. In the HIRA data, 23 doctors appear, among them 14 plastic surgery specialists and six anaesthesiology specialists, and this aligns with the staff page. Three dermatologists are also named on the staff page; no dermatology specialist appears in HIRA. An active record for its business number can be found in the medicalkorea registry.

WJ Wonjin Plastic Surgery

Who operates. Wonjin (원진성형외과의원) occupies the 12th to 18th floors of Pagoda Tower, 419 Gangnam-daero, Seocho-gu, three minutes from exit 10 of Gangnam Station, and dates itself to 1999. Its English pages call it a hospital; HIRA and its Korean footer register it as a clinic. The English surgeon list has ten doctors with eye surgery among their fields, described variously as “Plastic surgeon”, “Board certified plastic surgeon”, “Specialist in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery” and, for two, “Board Certified Surgeon”; seven of the ten appear in the KSPRS directory at Wonjin. The under-eye page names no surgeon.

What it offers. Fat removed or repositioned through the inside of the lid, depending on the diagnosis, with fat grafting or filler for a hollow and lower blepharoplasty for sagging skin. The lower blepharoplasty page describes removing skin, fat and wrinkles through “tiny incisions” inside the lower lid with no visible scars; like VIEW, it does not explain how skin is removed through an inside cut.

Anaesthesia, stitches and recovery. The English under-eye summary gives about 30 minutes under local anaesthesia with deep sedation, no stay, stitches out after seven days and a recommended seven days in Korea; the text on the same page says no stitch removal is needed, and the Korean page gives 40 to 50 minutes, no stitches and daily life after three days. Lower blepharoplasty takes about an hour, with stitches out at seven days and seven days recommended in Korea.

Complications it names. Bleeding, infection and inflammation are listed in general terms on the Korean page. No complications are named on the English under-eye pages, and they advertise “No scars”.

Price. Wonjin’s Korean fee page lists repositioning from 1.1 million won and lower blepharoplasty from 2 million won, without saying whether VAT is included. Its monthly events page advertises an “under-eye solution” from 590,000 won and upper or lower blepharoplasty from 790,000 won, before VAT. The English pages give no prices.

Patients from abroad. Interpretation in several languages, hotel booking, pick-up, a personal coordinator from the day of surgery, and an English phone line and email.

Public records. HIRA lists 15 doctors, including 11 plastic surgery specialists and three anaesthesiology specialists. The English site describes 24-hour intensive care units; HIRA lists no intensive care beds. The medicalkorea registry has an active record for its business number.

Side by side

What none of the pages answers

Every one of the five clinics contradicts itself somewhere on recovery, stitches or follow-up, and only two give a figure for time in Seoul. Before paying a deposit, get these in writing:

• Which operation you are having: fat removed, fat moved, fat grafted, or skin removed through a cut below the lashes. If skin is to be removed, ask where the cut will be.
• Who operates and who gives the anaesthetic, by name, and what kind of anaesthesia it will be. Our piece on ghost surgery explains why the name matters in Korea.
• Whether there are stitches, and the day they come out, so that you can book your flight after it.
• What the clinic does if the lid pulls down or turns out, and what a revision would cost.
• What the price includes: VAT, anaesthesia, medication and follow-up, and whether an event price applies to your operation.
• How long to stay in Seoul, as distinct from when you leave the clinic. How long to stay in Korea for surgery sets out the general reasoning.

How to choose a clinic in Korea covers checking a surgeon’s specialist certification, double eyelid surgery in Korea covers the upper lid, and the cost guide explains why Korean surgery prices are so rarely published. The checklist turns the questions above into a page you can take into the consultation.