Trigger Warning: This blog article may contain some triggers for disordered eating, eating disorders and body dysmorphia. It is not intended to pass judgement on Korean pop culture but an observation from the perspective of its impact on eating disorders (ED) and ED recovery. 

The Not-So-Pretty Side of Korean Pop Culture: The influence of Korean Beauty Standards

Korean culture has gained the attention and fandom of many worldwide from admirable idols of music groups (K-pop) all the way to 10-step skincare routines that promise flawless skin. However, there is a dark side of this underlying culture, where following Korean beauty standards to its extreme may do more harm than good. Despite growing cases of eating disorders, South Korea appears to be well-accepting and vocalizing messages pertaining to ideal bodies, diet and facial features, which puts pressure on some growing generations and has multiple influences across the globe. 

The Pressure to Conform to Korean Beauty Standards

Weight Stigma and Body Shaming Culture

Growing up in a very distinctive culture is bound to affect one’s lifestyle, belief system as well as their everyday behaviours. The impact of Korean beauty standards and perpetual cultural expectations around self-and body image cannot be understated. A common belief that is openly expressed within Korean culture is that thinness equates to beauty and that weight loss to reach an “acceptable weight” is often very encouraged. Koreans are consciously subjected to these pressures to maintain a slim appearance in order to be accepted by society’s standards. It is believed that successfully following such acts equates to morally showing discipline and self control (1). This message seamlessly echoes in current diet culture in the West as well.

Take this recent Tik Tok video of a traveler in South Korea who describes the public body shaming through an open-air structure installed at a public park (2). The structure was designed to ‘measure your belly fat’ by passing oneself through some poles spaced between various widths and determining if one falls under the progressive size categories of ‘skinny’, ‘slim’, ‘standard’, ‘chubby’, ‘fat’, and ‘you are in trouble’. The man seen in the video, appearing as a straight-sized male, was labelled as ‘chubby’ according to the structure’s measurement. This public display of weight stigmatization obviously does not account for differences in female or male body composition nor does it take into consideration the many factors of health beyond size/body shape. While some may view it as a light-hearted dig, it is representative of a major societal ideal its culture continues to uphold at the expense of diverse bodies. 

Another online Korean American content creator, Adeline, describes in her Tik Tok video the rigid beauty standards that she had to face growing up in Korea (3). In particular, how common it is for people, especially family and relatives, to comment on one’s weight and offer unsolicited comments. For Adeline, her dad was vocal about her “having thighs that are so thick that [she] can be an Olympian”. Adeline also describes what it was like for her to have what was termed as ‘honey thick thighs’ according to Korean culture. “Basically, it’s a nice way to put that someone’s thick… My friends would try to cheer me up by telling me I was lucky to have honey thighs, when in reality, no one else actually wanted them”. 

The amount of similar commentary expressed and circulated by South Koreans has resulted in South Korea having one of the highest demonstrated amounts of weight stigma globally (4). Unfortunately, weight status has also become a large influencer of depression experienced by South Korean adults, and can further explain the relationship between higher body weight and greater depression (4). Not to mention, with greater body dissatisfaction comes risk of engaging in unhealthy dieting methods, predicting the likelihood of engaging in eating disorder behaviours (5).

Extreme diets, diet culture and eating disorders

While a diet can certainly mean many things in Western culture such as a way of eating, it is well-accepted in South Korea that it implies dieting to lose weight. The pressure to conform to a socially acceptable weight causes people to participate in extreme measures and engagement with diet culture.

Well-known K-pop idols, such as Lee Ji-eun (IU) and Wendy of Red Velvet, are pressured by the standards of the music industry to stay slim and thin. Inadvertently, young Korean adults often look up to these idols to obtain the same level of socially acceptable beauty. It then creates a perpetual cycle of Korean idols forced to achieve these arbitrary industry standards (likely connected to patriarchy) by following unhealthy actions to pursue such standards leading to the general public also believing they must do the same to look like, or ‘keep up’ with their idol. In fact, fans have been known to copy the diets of several popular K-pop idols (6) and ignore the dangers of doing so. For example, K-pop star IU was known to quickly lose weight in a short period of time on a diet consisting of an apple for breakfast, two sweet potatoes for lunch and a protein shake for dinner (7). Similarly, Red Velvet’s Wendy became known for her 2-week diet consisting of ½ cup of rice at breakfast and ½ an apple at dinner (8). To put the extremes of these diets into perspective, these provide roughly roughly less than 15-25% of the energy needs of an average adult, let alone for a developing youth or teenager. Such restrictive intake will have negative short-term and long-term impact on both mental and physical health but this not captured in the same headlines. This constructs a confusing message to the public who may understand that while these diets are dangerous, it is still worth the cost to attract praise, success and value. 

Not only do these extreme dieting acts endorse diet culture, it is part of a larger problem contributing to the growing prevalence of disordered eating and eating disorder behaviours (5,9). To demonstrate this growing impact, the number of eating disorder cases reported in South Korean for adults aged 19-30 was only 159 in the year 2011 however, this number grew to about 189,700 just six years later 2017 (9). Additionally, eating disorders have been identified as having a direct economic impact as result of accompanying medical costs that come with treatment, which total to as much $5.5 million USD in the year 2015 (10), showing the profound effect of South Korea’s diet culture on the country.

Plastic Surgery as a Norm

South Korea has become the hotspot known for plastic surgery among idols as well as the general public. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, 1 in 5 South Korean women has had some form of cosmetic surgery (11) with several of these individuals having goals to become an idol. South Korea is also one of largest capitals of plastic surgery procedures coming just behind the United States and Brazil (11). Common procedures include the double eyelid procedure, nose jobs, and jaw alterations for even the slightest change in facial details. These plastic surgery procedures are commonly endorsed and engraved into the South Korean culture where it is the norm for middle school children to have a procedure done during their winter break (12); or have their parents gift them with a cosmetic surgery procedure as a present for graduation (13). As a result of this, young South Korean generations are primed with self dissatisfaction since childhood and learned to have a strong desire to change their appearances.  

Our thoughts on the ripple effect of Korean Beauty Standards

Korean culture has become popularized worldwide, and while it has increased East-Asian representation in global pop-culture in many positive and progressive aspects, its beauty standards appear to push existing weight stigma and thin-privilege to new heights. We see through social media users, it is exceptionally difficult for youth and adults alike to not be influenced and hop on the train to follow the next craze to get glass skin, a size 0 body figure, start a low-calorie diet or attempt plastic surgery. In eating disorder treatment, we are also growing numbers of similar sentiments reported from clients especially in children and youth in practice. It is difficult to change such a large-scale narrative with global effect that seemingly promotes an underlying need for external validation. While it can feel like an uphill battle to shift towards embracing authenticity,  internal fulfillment and sustainable nourishment, there are also many aspects we can challenge diet culture to feel empowered against unrealistic beauty standards. We can and should celebrate K-pop for its amazing artistry, creativity, entertainment, Korean customs and traditions; and at the same time to still strike a balance with being a critical thinker/consumer when it comes to problematic diet culture. Remember, media and sources of influence are often manipulated, curated and extensively altered. Recognizing this can be a first step towards the disillusion of potentially negative impacts of any cultural and societal influences.

Disclaimer: the information provided is not intended as medical advice or to diagnose or treat a medical disease. It is strictly for informational purposes. Consult with your medical provider such as a dietitian before implementing any dietary changes, the information provided does not replace medical advice provided by your healthcare provider.

Blog written by Sharon Sun, RD

Reviewed and edited by Abby Hsiao, RD

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Work Cited

1. Jung, J., & Lee, S. H. (2006). Cross‐cultural comparisons of appearance self‐schema, body image, self‐esteem, and dieting behavior between Korean and US women. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 34(4), 350-365.

2. Shin, D. [Online video]. Tik Tok. https://www.tiktok.com/@shinchinman/video/7370173947653917985

3. Yoon, S., & Kim, Y. A. (2020). Cosmetic surgery and self-esteem in South Korea: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Aesthetic plastic surgery, 44, 229-238.

4. Brewis, A. A., Han, S. Y., & SturtzSreetharan, C. L. (2017). Weight, gender, and depressive symptoms in S outh K orea. American Journal of Human Biology, 29(4), e22972.

5. Monocello, L. T., Lavender, J. M., Fowler, L. A., Fitzsimmons‐Craft, E. E., & Wilfley, D. E. (2024). A cultural models approach to understanding body fatness perceptions and disordered eating in young South Korean men. International Journal of Eating Disorders.

6. (2018). I tried Kpop star IU’s diet for a week! [Online video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A92sBofg5U0 

7. Kim, D. (2018). Infamous IU Diet. Medium. https://ddanakkim.medium.com/infamous-iu-diet-3f59bbc3c09f

8. Xin, O. W. (2019). Don't do it, say young fans after trying K-pop idols' extreme diets. AsiaOne. https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/dont-do-it-say-young-fans-after-trying-k-pop-idols-extreme-diets

9. Strand, M., & Gustafsson, S. A. (2020). Mukbang and disordered eating: a netnographic analysis of online eating broadcasts. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 44(4), 586-609.

10. Lee, S. M., Hong, M., Park, S., Kang, W. S., & Oh, I. H. (2021). Economic burden of eating disorders in South Korea. Journal of Eating Disorders, 9, 1-9.

11. Global Survey 2022 (2022). International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS). https://www.isaps.org/discover/about-isaps/global-statistics/reports-and-press-releases/global-survey-2022-full-report-and-press-releases/

12. Matsumoto, N. (2014). How the Asian pop culture boom is feeding eating disorders. Psychology Today, 16.

13. Wang, Y. (2015). Behind South Korean cosmetic surgery: its historical causes and its intertwined relationship with Korean pop culture (Doctoral dissertation, University of Delaware).