Chinese women barred from leaving South Korea? Fake News!

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A photo of three women with swollen faces and bandage wrapped around their head has gained wide public attention in the past few days after it was reported they were Chinese tourists who were stuck at a South Korean airport during the National Day holiday.

Media reports said the ladies' post-op looks made them unrecognizable by airport authorities who could not tell if they were the same people their passport pictures showed.

They were barred from boarding their flight back home, detained and questioned, the story went.

A cosmetic surgery ad in a metro station in Seoul. /Xinhua Photo

However, the whole thing turned out to be bogus.

South Korea’s Ministry of Justice on Wednesday said they noticed the story, but denied such a case ever happening.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, the photo was not snapped at an airport, but in a duty-free shop.

In fact, South Korea introduced in 2012 a fingerprint system, collecting biometric data of all arrivals, which means passport photos are not the only way authorities can ascertain a traveler's identity.

At the same time, visitors who go under the knife in the country are also asked to produce their doctors’ credentials to customs officials.

Screenshot from the website of a South Korean cosmetic surgery hospital.

Cosmetic surgery has attracted thousands of medical tourists from China in the past few years, with the number peaking at about 80,000 in 2014. According to BBC, Chinese patients account for 90 percent of foreigners who undergo plastic surgery in South Korea.