[INTERVIEW] Director Kim Jae-gon

A social climate: all the circumstances of a given era; the social atmosphere of an age.

Every society has a “social climate.” It may be discussed in the same context as trends like what kind of face is considered beautiful, or what kind of personality is better for social life. The flow in which an “extroverted person” was closer to the social climate took a turn with COVID-19 as the turning point. After COVID, an “introverted person” became closer to the social climate: the lifestyle of quietly and steadily doing one’s own work and enjoying one’s own hobbies began to receive attention, and this became closer to the “virtue” demanded by the times. In that sense, the social climate was redefined.

Director Kim Jae-gon seems to quietly do his work at the hospital and live his life in his own way. There may be a lively story inside, but from the outside, that is not what it looks like. That also raises curiosity—“What kind of person is the director?”—and even the slightly provocative guess that “he seems like he would be good with patients, too.” Through this d’Arc, the opportunity finally came to ask all the questions that had built up about the director.

On a day when the hot, humid air was trying to turn cool and light, I met Director Kim Jae-gon.

Q. Nice to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to join this interview despite your busy schedule. What has your daily life been like these days?

Since opening the clinic, not much has changed over the past year. In the morning, I try to exercise, and after work I stay at the hospital and wrap up whatever is left as quickly as possible, then refresh myself for the next day.

Q. It has been one year since Etoh Plastic Surgery opened. When the clinic first opened, and now, what are you focusing on in your work?

Originally, I intended to reduce the number of patients a bit and do other work that could help the hospital, but as I went along, I felt there were various side issues, so at the moment I am in the process of changing direction toward increasing the number of patients. From the hospital’s perspective, having more patients is better, and from a management and operations standpoint, I felt that the representative director alone was bearing too much of the burden, so I am pivoting on my own.

Q. I understand that while keeping busy, you also pursue various hobbies, study Japanese, and work out. You are also active as the host of Etoh TV. Where does the driving force come from that allows you to do so many different things?

I think it would be more accurate to say that I am trying to do that. Those who know me well probably know that my energy level is not particularly high. It’s not that I do everything because I want to; rather, when I do anything, I value things that are sustainable and can be done for a long time. If I want to work hard, I think I need a life outside of work to match that effort. What I do is not something I will do once or twice and then stop. To keep working for a long time, I think it is true that I do many things outside of work that help me refresh. You asked about a driving force, but rather than doing many things because I already have one, I think I am doing many things in order to build that driving force.

I also often think that living happily is a good thing. You can find enjoyment in work, but if enjoyable time outside of work continues for a long time, then you can also find enjoyment in work, which is why I seem to be doing many different activities. So in addition to doing certain activities because they are fun, I also try various things because experiencing something new gives me a good vibe.

Q. That’s very relatable. This time, I’d like to ask about the past. I’m curious why you chose medical school, and among the many specialties in medicine, why you chose plastic surgery.

Honestly, I didn’t have a dream or anything like that when I was young. In middle school, I actually wanted to become a judge or a lawyer. One of the biggest influences on that desire was my grandfather. He was a lawyer, but he passed away before I was born. The image of him that I heard about from adults after he passed away seemed very admirable to me. When adults try to explain someone who passed away early to a child, they naturally tend to talk about the good things. Because of that, I often heard from adults about how cool my grandfather was. That influence made judges seem admirable, so I wanted to become a judge or a lawyer.

But as I grew older, my childhood dream gradually faded from memory, and under the influence of my surroundings, my desire to become a judge or a lawyer naturally disappeared. Still, I was a student who did well academically, and since I chose the science track, I ended up entering medical school. It wasn’t especially because I thought, “I want to dedicate myself to humanity, so I should go to medical school!”—it was more that there were many doctors in my family, so it naturally influenced my career path.

The reason I went into plastic surgery is… quite a delicate topic. Recently, the resident strike became a major issue, right? I’m not trying to say who was right or wrong, but I had long thought there were many problems with the medical system. Of course, no system can be built and settled perfectly smoothly, but I felt there were many issues in the process of establishing the medical and insurance systems. I thought such problems could directly affect my work. So I wanted to choose a specialty that would be relatively unrestricted in terms of my work, and among them, plastic surgery was interesting to me, so I chose it. Also, surgery has a clean, almost math-problem-like aspect to it, and when it ends cleanly like that, should I say it feels satisfying? That suited me well.

Q. Still, rather than deciding on plastic surgery outright, I imagine you also considered other specialties.

Usually, the choice of a specialty is greatly influenced by seeing senior doctors. It’s hard to look 10 years ahead at school. It’s so far away (laughs). Usually, you look at seniors one or two years ahead, and I think plastic surgery seniors often seemed responsible and eager to do well for their patients. I also considered applying to dermatology, and I even worked with dermatology seniors, but the plastic surgery seniors were the ones who gave me more inspiration and curiosity.

Ah, now that I think about it, there’s an episode with Director Jo Jeong-mok. It was when I was still deciding on my specialty. Seniors would ask, “What specialty are you going into?” and if I said, “I’m not sure yet,” it might have seemed like I wasn’t serious enough. Around the summer of my internship, I thought I should probably decide, so I asked one senior what he thought about plastic surgery. That senior was Director Jo Jeong-mok (laughs).

At the time, Director Jo Jeong-mok was a first-year resident, and I asked him at Coffee Bean in Daehak-ro whether plastic surgery would be a good choice and whether it would be okay for me to go into it. As those who know Director Jo Jeong-mok probably know, he isn’t someone who easily says bad things. When I asked him what he thought about plastic surgery, he only explained the good points (laughs). So there was a moment when I thought, “Did I get fooled?” but now I’m satisfied and happy with my work.

Q. Through that process, you became a plastic surgeon, and now you work at Etoh Plastic Surgery. You are also active as the main host of Etoh TV. Looking at Etoh TV, you cover a lot of content about nose and eye surgery. I’m curious about the background behind why you focus especially on eye and nose surgery, or why you came to like and do them well.

Traditionally, the classic foundation of plastic surgery is eye and nose surgery. Especially in private practice. Naturally, I ended up doing a lot of these basic eye and nose surgeries, and that is how I got to where I am now. Of course, I do other surgeries as well, but because I started with eye and nose procedures, I think I have continued doing them.

Q. There will probably be more patients needing surgery in the future than there have been so far. What kind of plastic surgeon do you want to become going forward?

This is something I always think about. Rather than thinking about what I should do in the future, I am focusing on continuing what I am doing now. Not losing my初心, thinking from the customer’s perspective, and considering what would be most helpful for that person—that is what I focus on.

Putting yourself in someone else’s position is not easy, but as quickly as possible, I try to identify what that person wants, what they need, and what I think would help them, then explain it to them and consider the appropriate methods and combinations. When a surgery or procedure is carried out, I want the result to be as close as possible to what was promised, and I want to manage things so that side effects are minimized.

These are the things I do, and I hope I can keep doing them consistently.

Q. This time, I’d like to ask something not as Doctor Kim Jae-gon, but as the person Kim Jae-gon. You mentioned earlier that you like trying new experiences. I’m also curious about your current interests and your goals in life.

I live with the attitude that I want to work toward a happy and enjoyable life, and I hope that becomes a reality. How to achieve that is always something I think about. In a way, doing my best for clients at the hospital is part of that. That way, good results will come out, patients will be satisfied, and when I see that, I feel comfortable and happy too.

Also, my hobbies and learning about new fields are connected to enjoyment. Through these things, I can have a more positive mindset and move in a more progressive direction.

What I try not to do is endure suffering now for the sake of some goal. Of course, there may be days when you have to bear hardship, but rather than ascetic endurance for uncertain rewards in the distant future, I try to focus on doing my best each day and making each day comfortable. I believe that when those days accumulate, life itself can become very happy. Rather than dragging out painful times, I want to live in a way that allows enjoyable times to last longer.

Q. I was going to make this the last question, but after hearing what you said, one more question came to mind. You said you hoped for daily enjoyment rather than hardship, but I understand that from undergraduate studies through the internship and residency period, it is quite a long stretch with a lot of hardship. How did you get through that time?

Back then, I had thought about it less than I do now. At that time, I think I had a stronger sense of duty that I had to do this work. So, in a way, there were good aspects to that too. I also felt joy in steadily studying and doing clinical practice while gaining a sense of accomplishment.

Basically, I think I have a sense of accomplishment from doing what I am told. Although it may seem opposite to my previous answer, life cannot always avoid hardship and only be enjoyable every moment. If you cannot avoid a hard time, I think you should sublimate it and try to feel it as something worthwhile. For me, that was studying, and by studying that way, I got good grades and focused on the joy of learning things I didn’t know before.

Rather, I think I wandered a bit when my medical education was over. I had always had things I was supposed to do within the system, but once it came time to make choices based on my own standards, I was a bit bewildered. What criteria should I use to move forward from here? Those things weren’t yet well formed. As time passed and I developed my own standards, I began to focus on living each day calmly, meaningfully, joyfully, and faithfully to that day.

Q. Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to readers who will hear your story through d’Arc?

Honestly, I’m not a philosopher or someone who has achieved everything, so it feels a bit presumptuous to say, “Live like this.” But to put it more generally, there isn’t just one way to live life. Everyone’s environment and preferences are different, and so on. Still, I think that someday, each person will be able to find their own way to live a healthy and beautiful life. When the constraints imposed by rules or the environment disappear and unlimited paths open up, I would like to say that it may help you live a healthier life if you think about which path you truly want to take and what you really like.