Three Chinese Women Detained in South Korea After Plastic Surgery Made Them Unrecognizable
It was a lie!
So if you haven’t heard yet, this story was a lie. We were had!
What, you haven’t even heard about the three detained Chinese women yet?
Well, the story was that three women from China went to South Korea to get plastic surgery. But when they tried to go back home, they were detained at the airport because they didn’t look anything like their passports. There’s a picture of them that went viral showing them at the airport swollen and bandaged up clutching their passports.
South Korean government calls bulls!@t
Well, apparently, the story was fabricated by Jian Huahua, a Chinese TV presenter, who supposedly met these women at the airport or met someone who met these women (details are fuzzy – another red flag to the validity of the story). The Chosun Ilbo, a major Korean newspaper, reported that South Korean Ministry of Justice stated that this story was not based on any facts.
I know, I know. Who would want to admit that the story was true? I was skeptical too because pictures tell a thousand words and don’t lie right? They probably just don’t want to scare off medical tourists from going to Korea for surgery, right?
Well, the fact that South Korea’s Ministry of Justice says it wasn’t true AND the fact that the author has since removed her post, makes me think that yeah, it’s not true.
Yes, she removed her post! Okay, maybe she removed her story for some other reason, but I find it highly suspicious.
Additionally, and most damning to the story, is that visitors have to get their finger prints scanned upon entry into South Korea. So unless these ladies had plastic surgery on their digits as well, then they would have been able to go home.
What’s up with the viral picture then?
Who knows? South Korea is a mecca for plastic surgery. People figured that it was totally believable something like that could happen.
For all we know, those women had successful surgeries and were just getting their passports and flight tickets ready for gate check-in. I know I constantly check my papers when I travel. And I even share that same look of bewilderment!
The truth isn’t as interesting
I found lots of hits regurgitating the same story while researching this story about these three women. That means the original story had very few “facts” and no one dug any further.
Initially, I heard this story from my sister who read about it on a travel website. Has that website updated their report that this was fake news? Nope.
The picture of these three women went viral so there’s a ton of posts about it and hardly anyone is reporting the truth. I wouldn’t know about it either had I not been writing a post about it. Originally, this post was going to just be about plastic surgery in Seoul.
There are many medical tourists who travel to Seoul for their excellent plastic surgeons. And yes, you may spot some of these visitors at the airport. They achieved what they came for, which was to look different. But can they still go home if they don’t match their passport? Yes, of course.
So had you heard about this story? Did you know the truth? Share in the comments.