"It's really hard for individuals to instigate cross-border legal proceedings, given the geographical distance, language barriers and the question of obtaining evidence," he said.

Mi advised people considering traveling overseas for cosmetic surgery to think twice, and said they should be particularly skeptical about so-called true stories on popular TV shows, because the side effects of surgery can easily be glossed over with carefully applied make-up and clever filming techniques.

In 2010, Chen Yili, 33, a businesswoman in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, spent more than 170,000 yuan on a string of operations on her jaw, lips and nose at a clinic in Seoul that had been recommended by a medical broker.

After returning to China, she began to have nasal infections and flu-like symptoms in her nose that still persist nearly five years after the procedures were carried out.

"I can't go to sleep without pills, I can't meet friends, and I'm depressed," she said, adding that sometimes she needs to take 12 antidepressant tablets a day.

She also warned of illegal brokers who exaggerate the benefits of surgery, and of exorbitant costs - about 30 percent of the fee goes to the broker: "Profits are placed ahead of health and safety. The brokers are always after money, and they will do or say anything to get people to have costly operations."

The Korean Health Industry Development Institute said more than 1,000 legal agencies have registered with it, but estimated that illegal agencies hold about 87 percent of the plastic surgery market and they aggressively target customers from overseas.

Zhang Bin, chairman of the Chinese Association of Plastics and Aesthetics, said the problem has a global dimension, and Chinese who choose to have plastic surgery in South Korea usually hire an agent to act as a liaison between customers and clinics, which can result in people being taken to unlicensed clinics.

"Lax regulations, inadequate facilities and unqualified surgeons, some of whom are barely physicians, are the primary reasons for the failed surgery," he said.

CAPA said it's working with its counterparts in South Korea to establish a database of fully licensed Korean surgeons to prevent patients from falling foul of unscrupulous practitioners.

Zhang said the database, which will list about 1,500 surgeons, will be published in Chinese so potential patients will be able to check their surgeon's educational background and medical qualifications.

As Jin, Chen and Mi continue to seek redress and, hopefully, to protect others from a similar fate, they said the deception they encountered in their quests for physical perfection was the unkindest cut.

For all three, the physical scars are still raw, and when Chen considers the persistent numbness in her jaw, she knows it's something she will have to live with for the rest of her life.

Frustrated in her efforts to obtain restitution and compensation, Mi claimed the clinic had made a number of serious, but unfounded, accusations against her online in the hope of undermining her veracity. She said she wants nothing more than a sincere apology and hoped the clinic would accept a measure of responsibility.

Jin hopes her story will provide a salutary lesson for those considering cosmetic surgery, and has volunteered to become the lead organizer of a group of about 200 people who have undergone similar experiences.

"After everything I've been through, I need to do something more meaningful than just pursuing good looks," she said.

Contact the writer at zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn