Plastic surgeon-cum-novelist Kim You-myung. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

• ●Plastic surgeon Kim You-myung has published two novels with medical themes and another is on its way.
  

• ●He likens his passion for writing to the force that compels some people to become a mudang, Korean shaman.

SEOUL, South Korea -- The plastic surgeon and writer who goes by the pen name Kim You-myung is no stranger to death.

In fact he witnessed many deaths in person since he was a fledgling medical student, seeing multiple people pass away who looked fine even a day before their last moment on earth. Kim says he had a realization while handling remains and corpses as an intern: Life and death are not so far apart.

After he began practicing plastic surgery near Gangnam Station in Seoul’s upscale southern district over a decade ago, he channeled his broad interest in life and death to focus on the destructive impact of greed on people’s lives.

He observed that for some people, death is not directly linked to certain untreatable diseases. Rather it is the consequence of their endless greed and deadly desires, ultimately leading to the destruction of their lives.

Feeling the urge to share his observations, Kim decided to squeeze fiction writing into his packed schedule.

“I have so many stories to tell, but few are willing to listen,” he said during a recent interview with Korea Here and Now. “So, I chose to write them down.”

Kim has an insatiable passion for writing, and his area of specialty is medical fiction, a relatively untapped area in Korea’s literary scene.

After releasing his first medical novel, “Anesthesia,” in 2018, Kim unveiled his second, “Face,” last year. Another work, this time a still-untitled medical thriller, will be released soon. This novel, however, will be published online exclusively.

“I think novelists are people who write stories about things they learned by themselves or from the world they belong to, without caring much about the reactions of other people, particularly those who are gripped by the single goal of making a living,” he said. “They write, no matter how long it will take. They work on stories, regardless of readership. So for me, writing is not a very effective business, because a writer’s hard work rarely pays off.”

Kim compares his knack for writing to the grooming of a Korean shaman.

“I liken my motives and passion behind writing fiction novels to being a mudang. Those who were born to be shamans are said to experience a spiritual calling to prepare them during various periods of their lives. If they resist such calls, they end up getting sick. The mysterious illnesses they end up suffering can’t be cured until they finally respond to the calling,” he said. “To me, being a writer is a similar experience. Writing simply cannot be resisted.”

His debut novel, “Anesthesia,” tells the story of a medical accident that paralyzes an entire city following an explosion at a drug manufacturing factory. It was well received by the media and placed Kim at the center of coverage about the plastic surgeon who created a medical thriller. He signed a contract with a local studio to adapt the novel into a movie.

Following his successful literary debut, Kim released “Face” last year. It revolves around a middle-aged plastic surgeon who is driven by material success and risks his career by taking out excessive loans to expand his medical business, which eventually leads to the downfall of his life, family and livelihood.

In his second novel, Kim shares an insider’s knowledge of the industry that is full of greed and deadly desire for fame and success.

Unlike the many who choose to change their faces with the help of plastic surgeons in order to improve their looks a little or a lot, some undergo surgery to live a different life by cutting themselves off from their past. In “Face,” celebrities who are victimized by revenge porn, an intelligence agent whose face is accidentally exposed on national TV and a criminal who seeks to hide abroad secretly visit the clinic to get help from the skillful plastic surgeon. They all have one thing in common: They want to be forgotten.

The behind-the-scenes stories of the plastic surgery industry make his novel unique and informative for readers.