Incisional double eyelid
Quoted at your consultation
Guide
Eyelid Surgery Cost in Korea
Every clinic website you have opened this week quotes a different number, and none of them tell you why. This guide explains what actually sits inside an eyelid surgery price in Korea in 2026, what a quote should include, and how to get a written figure for your own eyes rather than an advertised starting price.
Cost structure
What actually drives the price
Six variables explain almost every difference you will see between one Korean quote and another. Once you can read them, comparing clinics becomes straightforward.
1
Who holds the instruments
The single biggest variable is the surgeon, and specifically whether the surgeon you consulted is the one who performs your operation from first incision to last suture. A senior specialist who operates personally, on a limited number of cases per day, costs more per case than a high volume clinic model. Dr. Lee Haksoo has focused on eyelid surgery for twenty five years and performs each operation himself.
Learn more2
How many procedures are combined
Eyelid surgery is rarely one isolated manoeuvre. A crease, a levator adjustment and an inner corner opening are often planned together because they affect one another. Combining them into one session is cheaper than three separate operations, because you pay once for anesthesia, once for theatre time and once for recovery.
Learn more3
Incisional or non incisional
The non incisional method places buried sutures through small punctures and takes less operating time, so it usually sits at the lower end of the range. The incisional method opens the lid, allows tissue to be adjusted and removed, and takes longer, so it sits higher. Neither is automatically better value. The right method is the one your anatomy needs.
Learn more4
Primary surgery or revision
A revision is a different operation from a first surgery even when the goal sounds identical. Scar tissue has to be released, previous adhesions freed, and the surgeon works with whatever tissue remains rather than with an untouched lid. That takes longer, carries a harder plan, and is priced accordingly.
Learn more5
Anesthesia
Most eyelid procedures are performed under local anesthesia, sometimes with sedation so that you rest through the operation while remaining able to open your eyes on request when the surgeon checks the height and symmetry. Sedation adds staffing and monitoring, which is reflected in the quote.
6
Aftercare that is actually included
Two quotes can look identical until you ask what happens on day three and day seven. Stitch removal, the routine post operative checks during your stay and access to the surgeon if something worries you are part of the operation, not an upsell. A quote that excludes them is not really the lower quote.
Price list
Procedure price guide
Current clinic pricing by procedure. Your own quote may differ from a single line below, because the plan for your eyes may combine procedures or involve revision work.
Non incisional double eyelid
Quoted at your consultation
Incisional ptosis correction
Quoted at your consultation
Non incisional ptosis correction
Quoted at your consultation
Epicanthoplasty
Quoted at your consultation
Beautiful Eyes Trio
Quoted as a package, typically below the cost of the three procedures booked separately
Upper blepharoplasty
Quoted at your consultation
Lower blepharoplasty
Quoted at your consultation
Under eye fat repositioning
Quoted at your consultation
Revision eyelid surgery
Assessed case by case and quoted after review
We do not publish a single headline number for eyelid surgery, because a single number would be misleading. Two patients who both ask for a natural double eyelid can need very different operations: one may need only a crease, the other may have mild ptosis that has to be corrected in the same session or the crease will sit unevenly and fade. This is why the clinic issues a written quote after a photo consultation, once the plan for your eyes is known. The quote lists each procedure separately and states the total, so nothing is added later.
Scope
What is included and what is not
A quote is only comparable if you know where its edges are. Here is how the surgical fee is normally structured for international patients.
Normally included in the surgical fee
- Consultation and surgical planning with Dr. Lee Haksoo in person before the operation
- The operation itself, including surgeon fee and use of the operating room
- Anesthesia appropriate to the procedure, local or local with sedation
- Stitch removal at the clinic
- Standard post operative follow up visits during your stay in Busan
- Post operative medication supplied at the clinic. Ask KORA to confirm whether medication and eye ointment are included or billed separately.
- English communication and coordination through KORA
Not included
- International flights and travel insurance
- Accommodation in Busan and local transport
- Airport pickup and transfers. Ask KORA directly whether airport transfer and hotel booking assistance are included or carry a fee.
- Any further revision surgery requested later, which is quoted separately as its own operation
- Treatments unrelated to your eyelid plan, including skin treatments and any procedure this clinic does not perform
- Pre operative blood tests or medical clearance requested by your own doctor at home
One point worth stating plainly. From 2026 the price you are quoted is the price you pay, because the tax refund that foreign cosmetic patients used to claim no longer exists. See the FAQ below for the detail. Budget the full figure rather than a figure minus an expected refund.
Location
Seoul versus Busan on price
Most international price guides are written about Seoul, and within Seoul about the Gangnam district, where the concentration of cosmetic clinics is highest. That concentration comes with the highest commercial rents and the heaviest marketing spend in Korean plastic surgery, and those costs sit inside every quote issued there. Busan clinics generally carry lower overheads, so surgical fees in Busan tend to be somewhat lower than Gangnam equivalents for comparable work by comparable surgeons.
The size of that gap is hard to state responsibly, because it varies by procedure and by clinic. Published medical travel guides put it at a modest margin rather than a dramatic one. Jivaka Beauty, a Korean medical travel service, estimates Busan pricing at roughly 5 to 15 percent below Seoul. Treat that as an indication rather than a rule, and compare actual written quotes.
The larger saving is usually not the surgical fee at all. It is everything around it. Accommodation near Seomyeon costs less than equivalent accommodation in Gangnam, meals cost less, and the city is compact enough that you are not spending an hour crossing it for a five minute stitch check. Eyelid surgery involves several short visits over roughly a week, so the distance between your hotel and the clinic quietly shapes the trip.
What should not vary by city is the standard of the operation. Choose the surgeon first and the city second. If you are weighing the two locations, our companion guide on Busan versus Seoul for plastic surgery compares travel, cost of stay and clinic culture in more detail.
Value
Why the cheapest quote is often the most expensive
The real cost of eyelid surgery is not what you pay once. It is what you pay in total, including the operation you did not plan for.
Eyelid tissue is thin, it is millimetres deep, and it does not forgive a rushed plan. A crease set too high looks startled and never softens. A crease set without correcting an underlying weak levator muscle sits unevenly and often fades within a year. An inner corner opened too aggressively cannot be put back the way it was. None of these outcomes are exotic. They are the ordinary consequence of a plan made in a few minutes by someone who was not the person operating.
When that happens, the fix is not a repeat of the first surgery. It is revision eyelid surgery, which means releasing scar tissue, working with tissue that has already been altered or removed, and rebuilding a result inside tighter constraints. It takes longer, it demands more of the surgeon, and it is priced higher than the primary operation would have been.
So the arithmetic of the cheap quote is worth writing out. You pay the low price, you pay for the flights and the week away, and then, if the result is wrong, you pay a higher revision price, another set of flights and another week away. The bargain has quietly become the most expensive route to the same destination, and you have spent a year of your life looking at a result you did not want.
This is not an argument that expensive means good. It is an argument for asking what the price buys. Who plans the operation, who performs it, how many eyelid cases that surgeon has done, and what happens if something needs attention afterwards. A quote that is meaningfully below every other quote you have received is telling you something about one of those answers.
Results vary from person to person. All surgery carries risk. This page is general information and not medical advice.
Next step
How to get an accurate quote
Three steps, all in English, all before you book a flight. There is no charge for the photo assessment.
1
Send photos on WhatsApp
Message KORA and send clear photographs of your eyes: looking straight ahead with a relaxed face, eyes gently closed, and looking up and down. Use daylight, no makeup, no filter. If you have had eyelid surgery before, say when and what was done, and add any surgical record you have.
2
Receive the assessment and written quote
Dr. Lee Haksoo reviews the photographs and gives an assessment of what your eyes need, including whether ptosis correction should be part of the plan. KORA sends that back to you in English with a written quote that itemises each procedure and states the total.
3
Confirm your dates
Once you are happy with the plan, KORA reserves your surgery date and explains how long to stay in Busan for stitch removal and follow up. You are examined in person by the surgeon before the operation, and the plan is confirmed or adjusted at that consultation.
KORA is the clinic's official medical travel partner and handles all English communication, from the first photo assessment to your final follow up. Clinic reception staff communicate in Korean, so please send English enquiries through KORA on WhatsApp rather than by phone.
If you already know which procedure you are considering, the individual pages set out method, recovery and candidacy in detail: incisional double eyelid surgery, non incisional double eyelid surgery, incisional ptosis correction, epicanthoplasty, upper blepharoplasty and under eye fat repositioning.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is eyelid surgery cheaper in Korea than in my country?
For most patients travelling from North America, Western Europe, Australia and the Middle East, the surgical fee in Korea is lower than at home for comparable work. The honest comparison, though, is total cost rather than surgical fee alone, so add flights, accommodation for about a week and time away from work. Compare like for like as well. A Korean quote often covers a combined plan such as a crease with ptosis correction, which is a larger operation than the single crease procedure quoted elsewhere.
Does the price include follow up visits?
Standard post operative care after eyelid surgery, including stitch removal and the routine checks that fall inside your stay in Korea, is normally part of the surgical fee rather than a separate line item. Ask KORA to state the number of included visits on your written quote before you travel, so there is no ambiguity while you are here.
Do I pay a deposit?
International bookings usually involve a deposit to hold a specific operating date, with the balance settled at the clinic on the day of surgery. Before sending anything, ask KORA to put three things in writing: the deposit amount, how it is paid, and the terms if you need to cancel or move your date.
Can I pay by credit card?
Korean clinics commonly accept major credit cards alongside cash in Korean won and bank transfer. One practical warning for international patients: foreign issued cards are sometimes declined on large single transactions abroad, so tell your bank the date and amount in advance and carry a second payment method.
Is VAT refundable for foreign patients?
No, not any more. Korea operated a value added tax refund scheme for foreign patients having cosmetic procedures from 2016, and it covered treatments including double eyelid surgery. That scheme expired on 31 December 2025. As The Korea Herald reported, the National Assembly removed the supporting clauses from the special taxation law, so cosmetic eyelid surgery performed in 2026 does not qualify for a VAT refund. Plan your budget on the full quoted figure. Any clinic still advertising a tax refund on cosmetic surgery is working from outdated information.
Does a combined package cost less?
Yes. Three procedures performed in one session share one anesthesia, one operating room booking and one recovery period, so a combined price such as the Beautiful Eyes Trio, which brings together double eyelid surgery, ptosis correction and epicanthoplasty, is lower than the same three procedures booked separately. The saving is also in time: one healing period and one trip to Korea instead of three. Ask KORA for a combined quote to see the saving against booking the three procedures separately.