Chinese businesswoman Chen Yili paid a South Korean hospital thousands of dollars to reshape her face in the hope she would look more like the glamorous stars she saw on television.

Instead she says she was disfigured by the operation—one of a growing number of Chinese women who claim shoddy procedures and a lack of regulation in South Koreas booming “medical tourism” industry， have left them physically scarred.

“They said they would design my face to look like a South Korean， and help me design a new nose， lips and chin， but （afterwards） when my friends saw my nose they were all shocked. They said it was crooked （and） ugly，” Chen said.

Seoul on Friday announced a crackdown on illegal brokers and unregistered clinics in a bid to protect medical tourists， especially those drawn by the countrys huge plastic surgery industry.

The country is a cultural powerhouse in Asia—its soap operas and pop music videos are massively popular in China and often feature cosmetically-enhanced stars.

While Chinas domestic plastic surgery market is worth tens of billions of dollars， persistent safety concerns are driving growing numbers of wealthy consumers abroad.

South Korea has pushed hard to foster its so-called“medical tourism” industry， which was worth the equivalent of nearly $360 million in 2013， according to official figures.

China topped the medical tourist list with more than 25，400 visitors， an increase of 70 percent from the previous year according to the South Korean health ministry.

Chinese tourists generally pay more than twice as much as locals for cosmetic procedures， Chinese newspaper Southern Weekly reported this month.

Dozens of South Korean clinics have Chinese-language websites， some offering surgery alongside sightseeing vacations， with promotions offered during Chinese holidays.

One clinic promises to provide “almond shaped eyes” and a “magical V-shaped face”—considered the ideal of feminine beauty in much of East Asia. Another is seemingly full of glowing testimonials from past patients.

While most procedures in South Korea appear to occur without incident， last month attention focused on the industry after a 50-year-old Chinese woman was left in a coma by a clinic in Seouls up-market Gangnam district.

As much as a third of Chinese patients costs can go towards fees for brokers who act as liaisons for the hospitals. Chen said after making initial enquiries she was contacted “incessantly” by an agent and felt 5cajoled into having the surgery.

She spent more than $26，000 dollars on the surgery in 2010 at the Beauty Line clinic in Seoul. One of her procedures involved having cartilage taken from her chest and added to her nose to make it more prominent.

But upon returning to China， she began to suffer from nasal infections. Now staying at a clinic in Beijing， she says her mental health suffered and she is taking 12 antidepressants a day.

“Ive lost sleep， I cant meet with friends， and I suffer from depression， because my nose is just too ugly，” she said.

“I feel tricked. I think the industry is protected by （South Koreas） government， because its a key source of revenue，” she added.

Park Ji-Hye， an official at South Koreas health ministry， told AFP that “activities involving illegal brokers and inflated fees， as well as disputes over malpractice， are sparking complaints from foreign patients.”

Hoping to bring the industry into line， authorities last Friday declared that owners of unregistered facilities treating foreign patients could be punished with jail sentences.

“Some clinics are treating Chinese patients without a state license allowing them to treat foreign patients， because obviously thats where the money is，” said Cho Soo-Young， spokesman for the association of Korean plastic surgeons.

Back in China， an online support group made up of hundreds of victims of alleged botched cosmetic procedures done in South Korea has begun a campaign to highlight these problems.

“You start to believe that cosmetic surgery is something magical that can change your life. We have to take some responsibility ourselves， for not understanding the industry， and being too trusting，” said group organiser Jin Weikun.

Many women in the group added that clinics had not warned them of potential risks.

Winnie Wang， 45， said she was “devastated， cried and even attempted suicide” after an operation in 2013 left her with unequally sized eyes.

Yu Lijun， a designer， underwent one of the most controversial procedures at Seouls Faceline clinic—“doublejaw” surgery—which involves cutting the bone to produce a slimmer jawline. Today her mouth is visibly misaligned， making it hard to eat and prompting her to wear a facemask at all times.

But Faceline disputed this， saying Yu had been through two botched surgeries in China that had left her mouth crooked before coming to them for help fixing it.

“We sent Yu back several times because the risk was too big， but eventually decided to treat her after her repeated pleas for weeks，” the clinic said in a statement， adding that she did not follow post-surgery care instructions.

Beauty Line， which is licensed to treat foreign patients， said it could not locate Chen Yilis file as its records are in Korean and do not contain patients names in Chinese. The company did not return calls from AFP after being contacted by a reporter with proof of Wangs history at the clinic.

It also said Mi had signed a pre-surgery statement acknowledging potential side effects to her procedures. Mi Yuanyuan， a Chinese actress， said a 2013 operation left her with regular pain in her nose， as well as numbness and hair-loss on her forehead.

“They said there werent any risks. They said the surgeon was as famous as the Hermes bag I was carrying，”the 38-year-old said.

“I would warn people not to be attracted by the South Korean fairytale.”

懷著要變得像電視明星一樣迷人的美好愿望，中國女商人陳怡麗向韓國一家醫(yī)院支付了數(shù)千美元進行臉部整形手術(shù)。

然而，她說自己被這場手術(shù)毀了容——越來越多的中國女性對劣質(zhì)整形手術(shù)提出索賠，陳女士便是其中之一。蓬勃發(fā)展的韓國“整形旅游”行業(yè)缺乏監(jiān)管，使這些女士身體受損。

“他們說會把我的臉設(shè)計成跟韓國人一樣，幫我重塑一個新的鼻子、雙唇和下巴，但是（后來）當我的朋友看到我的鼻子時，他們都被嚇到了。他們說我的鼻子歪了，很難看，”陳女士說。

本周五，首爾政府宣布打擊非法經(jīng)紀人和未經(jīng)登記注冊的診所，旨在保護醫(yī)療游客，特別是被該國龐大的整容行業(yè)所吸引的游客。

韓國是亞洲的文化強國——該國的肥皂劇及流行音樂視頻在中國廣受歡迎，主角通常是一些整過容的明星。

中國國內(nèi)整容市場擁有數(shù)百億美元的市場潛力，持續(xù)的安全問題促使越來越多的高端消費者走向海外。

韓國政府大力促進其所謂的“醫(yī)療旅游”業(yè)，官方數(shù)據(jù)顯示，這一行業(yè)在2013年為該政府帶來了等同于接近3.6億美元的經(jīng)濟收入。

韓國衛(wèi)生部稱，中國以25，400人次位居醫(yī)療游客榜單之首，比去年增長70%。

中國報紙《南方周末》本月報道，中國游客到韓國進行整容手術(shù)，通常需支付比當?shù)厝烁邇杀兑陨系馁M用。

許多韓國整容診所開設(shè)了中文網(wǎng)站，部分診所在提供手術(shù)之余，也提供觀光度假服務(wù)，如遇中國節(jié)假日，還有促銷活動。

其中一家診所承諾可以塑造出“杏眼”和“神奇V臉”——在東亞各國，這樣的五官被認為最能展現(xiàn)女性之美。另一家則似乎獲得了許多過往顧客的光輝印證。

盡管大多數(shù)韓國整容手術(shù)看似并未出現(xiàn)任何意外，但是上月，一個事件引起了人們對該行業(yè)的關(guān)注：一名五十歲的中國女性在首爾高檔商業(yè)區(qū)江南區(qū)的一家診所進行手術(shù)時陷入了昏迷。

為中國人聯(lián)系醫(yī)院的經(jīng)紀人，最高可拿到整容費用的三分之一作為提成。陳女士說，在進行前期咨詢之后，一個代理人“不停地”給她打電話，她感覺自己是被花言巧語誘騙才做的手術(shù)。

2010年，她花了26，000美元，在首爾的“善美高恩”診所做了整容手術(shù)。其中一個手術(shù)需要從她的肋骨中取出軟骨填入鼻梁，使鼻子更加挺拔。

但是，回國之后，她的鼻部受到了感染。現(xiàn)在她正躺在北京一家診所里，說自己身心俱受折磨，每天需要服用12種抗抑郁藥物。

“我無法入睡，不敢見朋友，還患上了抑郁癥，全因為我的鼻子實在太丑了，”她哭訴道。

“我感覺上當受騙了。我認為這一行業(yè)受到（韓國）政府保護，因為這是一個很重要的收入來源，”她補充道。

韓國衛(wèi)生局官員樸智慧告訴法新社，“非法經(jīng)紀人和濫收費行為，以及不當治療引起的爭議，正引發(fā)海外患者的投訴?！?/p>

為了讓整容行業(yè)重返正軌，有關(guān)當局上周五宣布，為海外患者進行手術(shù)的非法診所所有人將可能面臨牢獄判刑。

“有些診所在未獲得國家頒發(fā)的治療海外患者許可證照的情況下，為中國患者做手術(shù)，這顯然是因為有利可圖，”韓國整形外科醫(yī)生協(xié)會發(fā)言人曹秀英如是說。

回到中國，一個網(wǎng)絡(luò)互援團體開展了一場聲討運動，該問題因此引起了關(guān)注。該團體由一群自稱在韓國整容失敗的受害者組成。

“一開始你以為整容是一個能改變你人生的魔術(shù)。我們不了解這個行業(yè)，這一點難辭其咎，我們也太輕信別人了，”該組織的發(fā)起人靳魏坤如是說。

該組織的許多女士表示那些診所并未告知他們手術(shù)的潛在風險。

45歲的王溫妮說2013年她接受了一次手術(shù)，最終導致其眼睛大小不一，她“徹底崩潰了，終日以淚洗臉，甚至試圖自殺”。

余麗君是一名設(shè)計師，在首爾Faceline診所接受了最受爭議的整容手術(shù)——雙顎手術(shù)——手術(shù)需要削除部分骨頭以塑造更纖細的下顎線條。如今，她的嘴巴明顯不對稱，嚼食艱難，她不得不一直戴著口罩。

然而Faceline診所反駁此事，稱余女士此前在中國做過兩次失敗的整容手術(shù)，導致嘴巴畸形，赴韓找他們幫助她矯正。

“我們多次勸喻余女士回國，因為這個手術(shù)的風險太大，但是在她幾個星期的再三懇求下，我們才最終決定幫助她修復，”診所在某次聲明中如是說，并補充稱她并沒有遵循術(shù)后康復指導。

“善美高恩”是已經(jīng)獲得治療海外患者許可證的診所，宣稱無法找到陳怡麗的檔案，因為其手術(shù)記錄均為韓文，其中并未包含任何中文姓名。一名記者找到了王女士在該診所的病歷，并與其取得了聯(lián)系，隨后，法新社致電該企業(yè)，但未收到任何回復。

該診所同時也指稱宓女士已經(jīng)簽署了術(shù)前聲明，知悉手術(shù)可能帶來的副作用。宓圓圓是一名中國演員，她稱2013年的一場手術(shù)導致其鼻子經(jīng)常發(fā)麻疼痛，還伴隨前額脫發(fā)。

“他們聲稱不存在任何風險。他們說這種手術(shù)就像我挽著的愛馬仕手提包一樣有名，”這位38歲的演員說道。

“我告誡人們不要被韓國的童話故事迷惑。”