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Proposal for plastic surgery clinic at Incheon Airport slammed
A plan for a cosmetic surgery clinic at Incheon Airport’s new terminal has hit a roadblock.
It has been mocked as ill-conceived as it was targeted as a place for a quick nip and tuck between flights, which could cause legal as well as medical problems for flyers.
The clinic is to be located in the transit section of Incheon’s soon to open new passenger terminal.
The idea has been criticised by a politician.
"The airport operator, blinded by the pursuit of profits, overlooked some very important medical questions. It needs to rethink the project from square one," said Rep. Kang Hoon-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The clinic wants to offer plastic surgery and dermatological cosmetic treatments for passengers between flight connections.
The Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons said the idea is flawed.
"What if a patient cannot get on their scheduled flight due to some unexpected medical problems that occur after the surgeries or treatments?" the association said.
"Even the simplest double-eyelid surgery could be affected due to differences in air pressure, and side effects could occur if immunity is lowered due to fatigue from long flights."
The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons also denounced the idea as merely a money-making endeavour.
"One must reconsider using medical services and treatment as a means to increase the number of airport users," it said.
The society said more than two-thirds of all medical tourists in to the country are from within Asia and would not require flight transfers anyway.
The number of medical tourists to Korea grew 22% to 364,000 last year, attracting patents from mostly China and Japan.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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