Squid Game – there’s a slim chance you haven’t heard about this show yet, even if you haven’t watched it. The show has captured the zeitgeist of modern culture. Alienation, discrimination, desperation, and impoverishment, together are a recipe for disaster. It will make you wonder how far you are willing to go to not lose a game that will end up costing you your life.
Premiered on 17th September, Squid Game is already on its way to shattering records. It has become the number one show in more than 90 countries, including the UK and the US. Drawing sadistic pleasure from the deaths of grown-ups dying playing children’s games is something that many are still trying to come to terms with… well, that took a dark turn.
Apart from the series itself, everyone was amazed by the standout beauty of none other than Squid Game’s HoYeon Jung. She has gained more than 13 million followers on her Instagram in a span of just 3 weeks, becoming one of the most followed Korean actresses. No doubt her acting has been phenomenal, but her beauty has also been much spoken about, with Vogue featuring her in their “Beauty Secrets” series. She has graced the covers of the magazine in the past too.
However, Korea’s plastic surgery boom has made many people wonder whether it is natural beauty or has something to do with the star going under the knife. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), South Korea ranks fifth in the world for the number of plastic surgeons, having 2,571 of them in 2019 i.e., before the pandemic. The Hana Institute of Finance in Seoul’s survey showed a 10% jump in sales post-pandemic. This could be attributed to the Zoom effect and gym closures due to the lockdown. It only strengthened the quest for the achievement of ideal beauty among many Koreans.
One report also published by Grand View Research valued the Korean aesthetics industry at $1.6 billion in 2019 with a CAGR of 13.3% from 2020 to 2027, with the market size being estimated at $4.5 billion in 2027. Non-invasive procedures, such as Botox and dermal fillers, are more popular in Korea.
As for HoYeon Jung’s plastic surgery, the practitioners working with Longevita, a healthcare service provider headquartered in London, UK, had some things to say about it. They had analyzed various pictures of the 27-year-old model for it. While they did agree on some things, all of them, Dr. Melike Yazoglu, Gizem Seymenoglu, and Prof. Dr. Fuat Yuksel, had different opinions about whether or not the star had had plastic surgery or which kinds of treatments she had.
Dr. Melike Yazoglu and Gizem Seymenoglu agree on HoYeon Jung having had buccal fat removal surgery that aims to remove the excess fat pads in the cheek. This reduces the size of the cheeks and, according to Dr. Melike and Gizem, helped make HoYeon Jung’s cheeks look slimmer. However, the two practitioners’ opinions differ when it comes to the other treatments that she might have had.
According to Dr. Melike, HoYeon Jung also had a chin filler to increase the projection of the chin, while Dr. Gizem disagreed and said that it was not the chin where she had fillers but the cheeks. Last but not least, Prof. Dr. Fuat Yuksel thinks that HoYeon Jung did not have any cosmetic treatments and that her beauty is all-natural.
The controversial viewpoints of practitioners should not surprise you as there are always opinion differences in the medical community. And whether or not HoYeon Jung had plastic surgery, it definitely won’t stop you from binge-watching the show and gazing at HoYeon Jung’s gleaming beauty. She’s a sight for the sore eyes plastic surgery or no plastic surgery.
