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By Kang Seung-woo
The nation's anti-trust watchdog said, Sunday, it has fined or issued correction orders to nine cosmetic surgery clinics for their exaggerated and deceptive advertisements to promote their practices.
According to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), two hospitals -- Secret and Faceline plastic surgery clinics located in Gangnam District -- were fined 25 million won ($22,000) and 82 million won, respectively, after being caught using photos over-exaggerating patients' before-and-after photos. Gangman is a cluster for sprawling cosmetic surgery clinics.
The two clinics captured patients' faces in the pre-surgery photos, but patients wore makeup, stylish hairstyles and circle lenses in the post-surgery ones that were photographed by professionals to accentuate their beauty.
This is the first time the FTC has fined cosmetic clinics for false ads, which was done due to the seriousness of the situation, according to the watchdog.
"False and deceptive plastic surgery ads _ in particular, the before-and-after photos _ have encouraged ill-considered cosmetic surgery. Considering the side-effects, the FTC has reached the conclusion to fine them," an official said in a press briefing.
In addition to the two hospitals, seven received the correction orders.
Four clinics _ Opera Plastic Surgery, Dr. Homes Dermatology Beauty Clinic, St. Peter's Hospital, Pop Plastic Surgery and Odyssey Dental Clinic _ had advertising agents post positive post-surgery reviews on internet blogs and communities.
Also, staff from two other clinics wrote surgery reviews on internet blogs, but the hospitals failed to state this was the case.
The FTC plans to stop such false and deceptive plastic surgery ads in the future.
"This punitive action will not be a one-time event and the FTC plans to hold close talks with relevant organizations such as the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Dental Association to prevent similar incidents," the FTC official said.
