How to verify a Korean plastic surgery clinic and doctor before booking

Korean cosmetic clinics advertise heavily to foreign patients, and the words "certified", "award-winning" and "No. 1" appear on almost every website. None of those are verification. Verification means checking a clinic and a doctor against records they do not control: government registries, specialist societies and the legal requirements every Korean clinic must meet. This guide lists exactly what to check, where, and what to ask when a registry is only in Korean.

1. Is it a licensed medical institution?

Every clinic in Korea must be opened by a licensed physician and registered with the local health authority. The Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA, 건강보험심사평가원) publishes a search of all registered medical institutions with their address, type (의원 clinic, 병원 hospital) and the number of specialists per department. The site is in Korean; search by the clinic's Korean name, which you can ask the clinic for in chat. If a "clinic" is not in the HIRA register, it is not a medical institution.

2. Is the doctor a board-certified plastic surgeon?

In Korea any licensed doctor may legally perform cosmetic procedures. A board-certified plastic surgeon (성형외과 전문의) has completed a four-year residency in plastic surgery and passed the specialist examination; a dermatology specialist (피부과 전문의) has done the same in dermatology. Clinics that only have general practitioners may still call themselves "aesthetic clinics". How to check:

• The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons publishes a search of board-certified plastic surgeons; the Korean Dermatological Association does the same for dermatologists.
• On the HIRA register, the clinic entry shows how many plastic-surgery specialists it employs.
• Ask the clinic in chat for the doctor's full name in Korean, specialty and specialist certification year. A board-certified surgeon's clinic will answer immediately; hesitation is an answer too.

Note that a clinic's sign can legally say "성형외과" (plastic surgery) only if it is run by a plastic-surgery specialist; clinics run by non-specialists must use wording such as "진료과목: 성형외과". Ask for a photo of the sign or the registration certificate if you want to be sure.

3. Is the clinic registered to treat foreign patients?

Under Korea's Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Healthcare Industry and Attraction of International Patients, a medical institution that receives foreign patients must be registered with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and must hold medical malpractice liability insurance (at least ₩100 million for a clinic). The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) lists registered institutions on its Medical Korea website. Registration does not guarantee quality, but it confirms the clinic is legally allowed to treat you and is insured if something goes wrong. The same law registers facilitators (agencies); if an agency claims to be "government certified", ask for its registration number.

4. Who administers anaesthesia?

For surgery under sedation or general anaesthesia, ask whether an anaesthesiologist (마취통증의학과 전문의) is present for the whole procedure, whether the clinic has emergency equipment and a transfer agreement with a hospital, and whether recovery is monitored by staff. A clinic that outsources anaesthesia to a visiting anaesthesiologist should be able to tell you who and when.

5. Operating-room CCTV and ghost surgery

Since 25 September 2023 the Korean Medical Service Act requires CCTV in operating rooms where patients are unconscious (general anaesthesia and similar), and the clinic must record the surgery if the patient requests it. This rule was introduced largely because of ghost surgery (대리수술) — a different doctor operating from the one the patient consulted. Practical steps:

• Ask, in writing, that the surgeon you consulted performs the entire operation, and that this is stated on the consent form.
• Ask for CCTV recording in writing, well before the day of surgery. The clinic must record when the patient or guardian requests it, but the law lets it decline in limited cases — an emergency operation, a teaching case, or a request made so late that the surgery could not go ahead on schedule.
• Ask who else will be in the operating room and in what role.

6. Reviews, cases and complaints

• Prefer reviews that describe the consultation, the explanation of risks and the recovery over reviews that only show a result photo.
• Look at cases whose starting point resembles yours, and check that before & after photos have the same lighting, angle and makeup.
• Public Google ratings, reviews written by patients after consultations on Mimi, and communities of international patients each catch different problems; read more than one.
• Complaints against Korean medical institutions are handled by the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (K-MEDI); its existence is why malpractice insurance matters.

7. What Mimi checks

Clinics and doctors are listed on Mimi only after their licences and credentials have been checked. Each clinic page shows the address, opening hours, medical staff with roles, procedures with starting prices, FAQ and reviews, and you message the clinic directly — there is no agency in between. Mimi does not diagnose or give medical advice; the checks above are still worth doing yourself for any clinic, listed anywhere.

Checklist to send the clinic

1. Clinic's registered Korean name and address
2. Full name of the operating surgeon and their specialist certification
3. Registration as a foreign-patient medical institution and malpractice insurance
4. Who administers anaesthesia and who monitors recovery
5. Confirmation, on the consent form, that the consulted surgeon operates
6. Revision policy in writing
7. Aftercare instructions in your language

A clinic that answers all seven clearly is one you can compare on price and plan; see how to compare Korean clinics and how to get quotes.