Desire for anti-aging

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which was released in Korea in 2009, features a man who ages backward. Benjamin, the main character, was born as an old man, gets younger as time goes and ends his life as a new-born baby. It seems the life of a person who gets only younger as time goes by is also not always happy. Benjamin says in the movie, “You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went, you can curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.”

“Happy New Year!” The most common greeting that we had Wednesday when many companies held a kickoff meeting for the new year. Although it is difficult to predict what kind of luck we will have in 2014, all of us get one year older for sure as the new year comes. In today’s Korea, a well-built body, beautiful face plus a baby face have become some of the strengths that people want to have the most to compete with others. People in their 50s and 60s tend to feel anxious this time of the year, counting wrinkles on their face looking into a mirror. They think whether to buy “anti-aging” cosmetics or have a plastic surgery to make their face look younger.

Guus Hiddink, the former coach of Korean national football team who turns 68 this year, is to visit Korea this Sunday to have a whole package of anti-aging treatments. He will stay in Korea for one week to undergo a ultrasonic surgical procedure to reduce abdominal fat and lift sagging eyelids. And his girlfriend Elizabeth accompanying him will have some skin care. This visit is a good example of “Korean Medical Wave” that shows Korea’s medical services including plastic surgery and dermatological treatments have reached the global level.

There is no limit to go backward through time. Desiring to live long but not to get old is an antinomy, which is packaged by concepts such as “well aging,” “happy aging,” and “smart aging.” It would not be a bad idea to get the help of medical technologies to make one’s face and body smooth and slim. However, whether all the marks that one has gained throughout life should be completely eliminated after all the sufferings is skeptical. To respect the fact that people age rather than to just resist aging may be a better way to enjoy one’s life as is.

Editorial Writer Koh Mi-seok (mskoh119@donga.com)