The Latest Beauty Fad In Korea Is A 'Bone Cutting' Jaw Surgery

A billboard advertising double-jaw surgery is seen at a subway station in Seoul, on May 22, 2013. Cut throat competition among the growing number of plastic surgeons has driven some to promote more radical procedures that others might not offer.

South Korea's obsession with plastic surgery is moving on from standard eye and nose jobs to embrace a radical surgical procedure that requires months of often painful recovery.

A stream of celebrities boast on TV shows how it gave them a "new life," while advertisements extolling its cosmetic benefits are everywhere from street billboards to subway stations, magazines and popular Internet sites.

But there's nothing really "cosmetic" about double-jaw surgery.

A radical solution to congenital facial deformities or for people unable to chew properly due to excessive over or underbite, the operation involves realigning the upper and lower jaws.