Incisional vs Non-Incisional: Cost by Technique
쌍꺼풀 수술 (ssangkapeul susu, “double eyelid surgery”) is performed using three main technique families, each with a distinct price band, recovery profile, and candidacy requirement. The technique your surgeon recommends is determined primarily by eyelid thickness, the presence of excess fat or skin, and whether you have ptosis (drooping caused by a weakened levator muscle — the muscle that lifts the upper eyelid). Price follows complexity, not prestige.
Non-incisional (suture / 매몰법, maemol-beop): Sutures are passed through the eyelid to create a fold without any skin removal. Operating time is typically 30–60 minutes, which is why fees sit at the lower end. The trade-off is durability — on eyelids with moderate or heavy fat, the fold can relax over several years.³
Partial incision (부분절개, bubun-jeolgae): A short incision (roughly 1 cm) allows limited fat removal while preserving more tissue than a full incision. It suits patients who want more permanence than suture alone but have less excess skin. Recovery falls between the two extremes.³
Full incision (전절개, jeon-jeolgae): The upper eyelid is opened end-to-end, allowing precise removal of skin, muscle, and fat. This is the standard approach for patients with thick eyelids, excess skin, or significant asymmetry. It is also the access route for simultaneous ptosis correction. Higher surgical fees reflect longer operating time and greater technical demand.³
Gangnam-gu — which receives approximately 60% of medical tourists seeking aesthetic procedures in Korea⁴ — contains clinics across all price tiers for each technique. A higher fee in Gangnam does not automatically indicate a superior outcome; it typically reflects facility overhead, interpreter services, and brand positioning rather than technique quality.
What’s Included and Excluded in Quotes
Korean clinic quotes for double eyelid surgery almost universally state the surgical fee only.¹ The components below are typically billed as separate line items. Confirm inclusions in writing before signing any agreement — a quote that appears unusually low may simply be excluding standard items.⁵
Practical implication: A surgical fee of ₩1,500,000 with separately quoted anesthesia (₩400,000) and medications (₩150,000) produces a realistic out-of-pocket figure of approximately ₩2,050,000 (≈$1,480 / ≈A$2,255) — not the headline number.¹
Revision policy is the most consequential exclusion to clarify. Some clinics include one free revision within 90 days if the result is clinically unsatisfactory; others bill the full surgical and anesthesia fee again. Request the revision policy in writing before paying any deposit.
Combined Procedures: Eyelid + Ptosis Correction Costs
Ptosis correction (눈꺼풀 올림근 교정, nunkkeopeul ollimgeun gyojong) tightens the levator muscle — the muscle responsible for lifting the upper eyelid — when it is too weak to open the eye fully. Ptosis is not cosmetic laziness; it is a structural limit that, if uncorrected, can cause the eye to appear perpetually half-closed even after a perfect double eyelid fold is created.
Many patients are unaware they have mild-to-moderate ptosis until a surgeon assesses them in consultation. For this reason, the combined procedure price is a more useful planning figure than the eyelid-only price for a meaningful proportion of international patients.
How pricing works for combinations: Surgeons typically charge a combined fee rather than two separate full fees. The increment for adding ptosis correction to a full incision procedure is approximately ₩500,000–1,500,000 (≈$360–1,080 / ≈A$550–1,650), reflecting additional operating time and the greater technical precision required rather than a second procedure charge from scratch.³
Typical combined price bands:
- Full incision + mild ptosis correction: ₩2,000,000–3,000,000 (≈$1,440–2,160 / ≈A$2,200–3,300)
- Full incision + moderate-to-severe ptosis correction: ₩3,000,000–5,000,000 (≈$2,160–3,600 / ≈A$3,300–5,500)
Recovery implications: Adding ptosis correction extends the active swelling phase by approximately one week and can temporarily affect the blink reflex. Plan a minimum 10–14 day stay if ptosis correction is likely; 14–21 days is more comfortable.
Why combining makes financial sense: Booking ptosis correction as a separate procedure at a later date means a second anesthesia fee (₩300,000–800,000), a second facility fee (₩200,000–500,000), and potentially a second flight. Combining at one visit typically saves ₩500,000–1,300,000 in ancillary fees alone, in addition to the combined surgical fee discount most clinics apply.¹
Total Trip Cost from Abroad
The surgical fee is one of four cost categories for international patients. Flight, accommodation, and incidentals frequently equal or exceed the surgical fee for lower-cost procedures such as non-incisional double eyelid surgery.
The table below uses a mid-tier full incision procedure (₩2,500,000 surgical fee) as the surgery input, with anesthesia and medications added per methodology ranges.¹
Notes on the travel cost ranges:
- Flights vary significantly by season, booking lead time, and airline class. Economy fares from the US West Coast to Seoul (Incheon) typically run $700–1,200; from the East Coast or Australia, $900–1,600.
- Accommodation in Gangnam or Sinchon (near major clinic clusters) costs approximately ₩80,000–180,000 per night (≈$58–130 / ≈A$88–198) for a clean serviced apartment or mid-range hotel. Five to seven nights at the midpoint produces the figures above.
- The “Extras” line covers three meals per day, local transport (subway and taxi), interpreter fees if required, and post-op medications. It does not include tourism spending.
- Non-incisional cases cost ₩600,000–900,000 less in surgical fees, which reduces totals to approximately $2,800–4,800 depending on origin.
How These Figures Were Calculated
All price ranges on this page are based on direct consultation quotes collected from a minimum of 12 clinics per procedure in Seoul between January and July 2026. Clinics were selected across economy, mid-range, and premium tiers to produce a representative range rather than a simple average.² Quotes were not sourced from published price lists, online calculators, or third-party aggregators.¹
Quoted figures represent surgical fees only unless explicitly stated otherwise. Anesthesia, facility fees, and post-operative medications are not included in the base surgical fee figure.³
USD conversions use a rate of ₩1,380 per USD (1 KRW = 0.00072 USD); AUD conversions use a rate of ₩910 per AUD (1 KRW = 0.0011 AUD) — both reflecting the July 2026 exchange rate applied consistently across all BPSK cost pages.⁸ ⁹
Published ranges are not guarantees of the price any individual patient will receive. Final quotes depend on individual surgical assessment and may differ from the figures shown here.¹⁰ Price data is refreshed quarterly; the sampling date for this page is July 2026.¹¹