( CNN ) -- `` Dr. Youn , my daughter is so ugly . '' A Korean mother in her 50s sits before me in the exam room , her teenage daughter next to her . `` You need to fix her ugly nose , open up her eyes and give her a double fold of her eyelids , '' the woman says . `` Okay , '' I look at her daughter . `` Jane , what do you think ? Is this something you want ? '' Jane stares at the floor , unmoving . Then she speaks , eyes still looking downward . `` I guess . Whatever my mom says . '' Plastic surgery is hot in Asia . One in five South Korean women from 19 to 49 have undergone cosmetic surgery , according to a 2009 survey from market-research firm Trend Monitor . That 's reportedly compared to about one in 20 in the United States . Visit the world 's plastic surgery capital . Although the United States and Brazil are the top two countries in sheer number of plastic surgeries performed , China and Japan are numbers three and four , according to the International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons . South Korea , with a population of almost 49 million , is ranked seventh . Asian culture has embraced cosmetic surgery . Unlike in the United States , it 's no longer considered taboo to admit to having been nipped and tucked , even among celebrities . Miss South Korea 2012 confessed to having gone under the knife , revealing , `` I never said I was born beautiful . '' Interestingly , I find that the older generation often pushes younger people to have work done . I 've met several Korean parents in their 50s and older like Jane 's mom who have no qualms about encouraging their children to undergo plastic surgery . They even poke and prod at their kids ' faces to suggest how a surgeon should improve their looks . The majority of facial cosmetic operations performed on Asians are considered `` Westernizing '' procedures . Two of the most popular , nose jobs ( rhinoplasty ) and eyelid lifts ( blepharoplasty ) , are specially designed to make these features look more Caucasian . 2011 : Plastic surgery boom as Asians seek 'Western ' look . Asians generally have wider and flatter noses . Asian rhinoplasty narrows the nose and makes it project more , similar to a European look . Asian blepharoplasty creates an extra fold in the upper eyelid . While present in nearly all Caucasians , this extra fold occurs naturally in only 15 % of East Asians . While Asian plastic surgeons claim that these procedures are meant to retain their patients ' ethnicities and make them generally more attractive , I do n't buy it . To put it bluntly : Facial plastic surgery on Asians is about making a person look as Caucasian as possible . And that 's a disturbing thought . Full disclosure : As a young plastic surgeon , I trained in these types of procedures . I even performed a handful of them in my early practice . As a hungry young surgeon , I had no qualms about performing operations such as double eyelid surgery . The ethics of whether these procedures were right or wrong never really crossed my mind . And then a string of events caused me to reconsider whether I should continue to perform these operations . Are these surgeries really the right thing for patients ? For society ? First , I encountered Jane and her mother . Then , I received a request from a mom to perform an Asian eyelid surgery on her son . `` He really wants the surgery done , '' the mother said . `` He wants to look handsome . '' Then I found out her son was only 8 . And I had a daughter . The most beautiful girl I 've ever seen -- perfect in every way . She looks just like her mother , except for one feature that she 's inherited from her daddy . She has no fold of her upper eyelids . And I hope she never feels the need to change that . What do you think ? If you 're Asian , have you considered these types of procedures ? Is it wrong for Asians to idealize stereotypical Caucasian features ? Leave your comments below or on the CNN Health Facebook page . Getting back at your ex -- by getting surgery . The opinions expressed above are solely those of Dr. Anthony Youn .
One in five Korean women from 19 to 49 have had plastic surgery , 2009 survey says . The older generation may push those younger to have work done . The majority of surgeries are considered `` Westernizing '' procedures .