A Brief History of Plastic Surgery As early as 600 BC (BC) it began when a Hindu surgeon experimented with reconstructing a nose using a piece of cheek. In 1000 Anno Domini (AD), rhinoplasty was quite familiar due to their barbaric custom of cutting off their enemy's nose and upper lips, a sign of their victory over their enemies. In the 16th century, "the father of plastic surgery", Gaspare Tagliacozzi had reconstructed torn noses by transferring flaps of skin from the upper arm. The purpose of removing the skin from the arm is to reconstruct the saddle nose deformity typical of syphilis. The term plastic surgery comes from the Greek word “plastikos” (suitable for shaping), popularized by Pierre Desault in 1978 as a label for repairing deformities. Developments in anesthesia and antisepsis have made the plastic surgery procedure less risky. Plastic surgery surgeons had applied their technique to victims of birth defects and people involved in workplace accidents. The "Batter Baby Contests" held in America helped usher in the plastic surgery industry. Culture of conformity versus plastic surgery “If I have surgery, my eyes will look bigger,” Min-Kyong told CNN World during her interview. Min-Kyong's mother said on the news that people always look down on her daughter's little eyes. Everyone, he says, keeps their small eyes focused every time he performs his ballet in front of the audience. Why did they continue to judge by his eyes? It is actually a sign of racism and their eyes are targeted as mockery. For example, Heidi Liow said, "They say wacky eyes, or slit eyes, or they pull their eyes and go 'ching chong wah' or something like that." For Koreans, having a pair of… paper halves… has made [plastic] surgery tax deductible [and] is allocating [$1.3 million] to market Korea as a plastic surgery destination.” Now it has been proven that government policy also became one of the factors why Koreans were obsessed with plastic surgery. Conclusion After doing this research, I concluded that Koreans had their own personal reasons why they were so obsessed with it. They see the value of having admired beauty as their pride and their ticket to gaining society's acceptance and appreciation. Although undergoing plastic surgery was quite risky for your health, society's acceptance was the most important thing. Day by day, Koreans have slowly changed their original customs and replaced the inherited Korean look with a Western look. Thus the plastic surgery trend spread to all Koreans which then became part of their culture's identity.