Idol culture prevails the lives of Koreans, especially the youth. Most teenage girls are fans of various idol groups, and not knowing about idols is considered abnormal. Consequentially, the appearance of the idols also has a major effect on the youth, as often times the face, body, and fashion of the idols become the standard of beauty (Kim, 334). Especially girl idols are “de-humanized” and become “cultural content” and their bodies become objectified as commodities (Kim, 333). This phenomenon becomes very dangerous when young females follow this uniformity of beauty and body image, and take extreme measures to become like those girl idols. Cosmetic surgery statistics in South Korea has topped all charts these past few years, and the average age of getting the first plastic surgery is
getting younger every year (Kim, A.). 

The plastic surgery craze is directly related to the girl body imagery shown in the media, especially those of girl idols. The most famous example is Girl’s Generation, a popular girl idol group that gained popularity with various choreography and clothes that raised buzz marketing on their legs (Kim, 338). In Japanese media, Girl’s Generation was introduced as “leg-beauty” idol group, and very skinny legs with thigh gaps became the dream legs of many young females. Also idol member’s before-and-after (plastic surgery) photos often become viral in Korean media, and there are many cases that young women take photos of those idol members to a cosmetic surgeon to become like them (Kim, 338). Most girl idols are extremely underweight, and people promoting this as beauty became serious problem in Korea. This is not a criticism of plastic surgery or the girl idols, but rather a criticism of the media that contributes heavily to the unhealthy uniformity of beauty, resulting in distorted youth body (and face)
imagery. 

References

Kim, Yeran. Idol Republic: The Global Emergence of Girl Industires and the Commercialization of Girl Bodies. 2011, 333-345.

Kim, Andrew. Asian Cosmetic Surgery Latest Statistics Explained - The Craze and Boom. 2012. http://www.advancecosmetic.com/eng/asian-cosmetic-surgery-latest-statistics-explained-the-craze-and-boom.