About

Who is writing

I'm not a doctor. I work on the business side of a skin clinic in Seoul's Gangnam area, which means I see the price sheets, the consultation flow, the platform listings, and the questions foreign visitors ask at the desk. This site is where I write down the answers I wish were public.

What this site is

Plain-English explanations of how Korean skin clinics price, sell, and schedule treatments.
Fact-based descriptions of common procedures: what they are, what the visit looks like, what recovery looks like, and who they are usually not for.
Checklists of what to ask before you pay.

What this site is not

Not medical advice. Whether a treatment is right for your skin is a conversation for you and a doctor.
Not a recommendation engine. I don't name clinics for a fee, I don't run referral codes, and I don't publish "best clinic" lists.
Not a review site. No before-and-after photos, no patient reviews.
Desk notes are composites. The short first-person pieces describe patterns I see at the desk. The scenes are written, not transcribed, and no real patient is identifiable.

How the price index is made

Once a month I collect the prices clinics publish on two Korean booking platforms for clinics with a Gangnam-gu or Seocho-gu address, plus Hongdae, Myeongdong and Jongno for comparison. I keep only single-treatment listings with a stated dose, convert each to a standard dose (2cc, 300 shots, one session), and publish the median and middle half per treatment. Clinic names are never published. The full method, its limits, and the CSV are on the index page.

How this is funded

Right now, it isn't. If that changes, it will be through skincare product partnerships or affiliate links, clearly labeled, and never through clinics. The line is simple: a clinic can't pay to appear here.

Corrections

Prices, regulations, and refund rules in Korea change often. If something here is out of date, email hello@chokchokseoul.com and I'll fix it and note the change.