North Korea's Cosmetic Surgery Law: What You Need to Know

Recent reports indicate that cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly common in North Korea, although certain procedures, such as completely altering one's facial appearance or changing fingerprints, remain strictly prohibited. On July 2, the U.S.-based North Korea-focused media outlet 38 North published the full text of North Korea's 'Cosmetic Surgery Treatment Law,' which was enacted in 2016. This law was discovered in a North Korean legal database found on a domestically produced smartphone as part of the NK TechLab project.

The Cosmetic Surgery Treatment Law was established during a Supreme People's Assembly Standing Committee meeting on November 23, 2016, and has been amended twice since then, on June 23, 2019, and February 6, 2024.

The law allows for a broad range of elective cosmetic surgeries, justifying them by stating that the state is working to ensure that citizens can enjoy a healthy and beautiful appearance, which is deemed a fundamental requirement of the people-centered socialist system. It emphasizes that the state should continue to develop cosmetic surgery to serve the purpose of enhancing the people's appearance.

Article 11 of the law details the circumstances under which cosmetic surgery is permitted, including the correction of congenital deformities, repair of damage from soft tissue trauma, burns, tumors, inflammatory diseases, and treatment of orthopedic trauma patients. It also explicitly states that surgeries for aesthetic enhancement, or purely cosmetic purposes, are allowed, although no specific examples are provided.

While gender reassignment surgery is generally prohibited, the law does leave room for exceptions in 'special cases,' though it does not clarify what these special cases entail.

However, not all cosmetic procedures are permitted. Surgeries that completely change a person's facial appearance or alter fingerprints are strictly banned. 38 North suggests that these restrictions are likely for internal security reasons, indicating that biometric security is a significant concern in North Korea. Additionally, procedures like eyebrow or eyelash tattoos, which are common in South Korea, are also limited on the grounds that they do not align with socialist lifestyles.

According to the law, cosmetic surgeries can only be performed in specialized plastic surgery hospitals, central hospitals, or departments specializing in plastic surgery at provincial hospitals. Local clinics and general hospitals across North Korea are not authorized to perform these procedures. Only doctors with 'plastic surgery specialist qualifications' are allowed to conduct surgeries in designated facilities. 38 North notes that the existence of such regulations implies a significant number of legal procedures or issues related to illegal surgeries that necessitate regulation.

This is the first time the Cosmetic Surgery Treatment Law has been made public, but there have been occasional reports from North Korean state media and foreign news outlets indicating a growing demand for cosmetic surgery and advancements in medical technology within the country. In 2007, Daily NK reported an increase in demand for double eyelid surgery and eyebrow tattoos in North Korea. The same outlet also reported in 2019 that an amateur 'facial surgeon' was executed for performing illegal procedures.