200 Pound Beauty, the Korean plastic surgery comedy, has sold over 6,561,800 tickets, making it the single most successful comedy in Korea. The popularity of the film is a reflection of Koreans' obsession with physical appearance which has resulted in a thriving plastic surgery industry. In the film, cosmetic surgery transorms the mistreated overweight heroine into a stunning beauty. Just how important is physical beauty to Koreans? The Chosun Ilbo published the results of a survey which sought to find out the answer. The researchers found that eight out of ten Korean women over the age of 18 feel they need cosmetic surgery, and that one out of two has undergone cosmetic surgery at least once. 69.9% of the respondents said that they suffered stress because of their appearance. In addition, 81.5 percent of women between 25 and 29 felt the need for cosmetic surgery and 61.5 percent of that group said they have already had it. Only 20.4% of respondents felt that surgery should be avoided if at all possible. Asked to identify which areas of their appearance they were most dissatisfied with, 17.1 percent said their lower body, followed by the abdomen (14.6 percent), body weight (12.5 percent), height (11.6 percent), skin (11.1 percent), face (9.6 percent), and upper body (9.5 percent). 55 percent of those surveyed agreed that “external factors, rather than internal factors, are more important in defining a person’s beauty.”
[Source: Chosun Ilbo]
"By conservative estimates, 50% of South Korean women in their 20s have had some form of cosmetic surgery" -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4229995.stm
So...that's more like 23% of Korean women and not 50% ---check CIA World Fact book for population #s
I'd like to believe South Korea is enjoying the sporadic fruits of a more lively home turf turnout as of late..suits me well to believe that this is why movies like 'Beauty (which doesn't look terribly interesting at all in my book) have been rushing the box office success regsiter.
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