FOREIGNERS LEARN COSMETIC PROCEDURES

[Anchor Lead]

Korean-style cosmetic medicine is poised to enjoy a boom again. For the first time since the pandemic, foreign doctors have come to Korea to learn about plastic surgery procedures.

[Pkg]

Doctors from Brazil get off a bus and enter a hospital building. About 70 Brazilian doctors have come to Korea to learn about the country's advanced plastic surgery skills.

[Soundbite] Lucila la Rugura(Brazilian Doctor) : "I believe Korea's plastic surgery skills are the world's best. So a group of us came to Korea from Brazil."

This lecture is about thread lifting, a procedure that uses threads to bring a visible lift to the skin. This Korean-developed thread lifting procedure is already quite popular in Brazil. These doctors pay attention to the lecture and take photos.

[Soundbite] Dr. Lee Hoon-bum(Plastic Surgeon, Int'l St. Mary's Hospital) : "They are here to learn more detailed skills in areas they wanted to improve."

This training session is likely to further promote Korea's aesthetic procedures in Brazil. Patients from Russia and Southeast Asian countries have started trickling in. Foreign patients were almost non-existent during the pandemic. This Russian woman in her mid-thirties arrived a month ago to study in Korea. She plans to undergo skincare procedures while she is in the country.

[Soundbite] Anna Stacia(Russian Patient)

Once overseas travel becomes less restricted, the medical service sector expects a rebound in demands to bring about a stronger wave of Korean aesthetics medicine.

[Soundbite] Oh Wook(Dir., Beauty Clinic) : "Once the pandemic is completely over, I believe there will be more patients coming to Korea through more diverse routes."

Now that overseas travel has become easier, the wave of Korean medicine is ready to surge again.