Much of the South Korea's impressive plastic surgery growth has been fueled not just by the quality of the services offered but also their lower costs.

With devaluation of the won (the Korean currency) relative to the yen and dollar, prices have trended even lower for recent visitors from nearby or distant countries.

Advestised costs used to be about half of what was charged in the United States. At least for now, foreign exchange rates have dropped that fraction to about one-third.

Not surprisingly, the influx of foreign patients has responded with a surge even as the country's internal demand has softened due to global recession

Interestingly, a recent survey by the Korean Tourism Ministry revealed that American medical visitors do not always agree that fees in Korea are quite as low as typically advertised.

Secretive or ambiguous pricing policies of Korean hospitals and clinics can create a hidden upside that reduces the final discount to only about 20-30 percent below American fees.

For potential patients most interested in rock-bottom prices (never a wise plastic surgery strategy), Korea is far from being the bottom-dweller.

Just to the west sits China, where prices can be less than half those in Korea, while farther away in southern Asia is India, where costs can be one-tenth those in the United States.