Hang Mioku was a South Korean singer and model whose career in entertainment gave way to a decades-long addiction to plastic surgery. Born on 5 February 1962 in South Korea, she became known internationally after she began injecting cooking oil into her own face in 2008, when her supply of silicone ran out. Her case is reported to have followed roughly 20 years of surgical addiction and has since been cited by American cosmetic surgeons as an extreme example of harm caused by do-it-yourself procedures and unqualified practitioners. She died at home in South Korea in December 2018 at age 57.
Key facts
- Born: 5 February 1962
- Birthplace: South Korea
- Died: 15 December 2018
- Place of death: South Korea
- Country: South Korea
- Occupation: singer; model
Early career and first surgery
Hang Mioku worked as a model and singer in South Korean entertainment before plastic surgery addiction took over her life. She had her first cosmetic procedure at age 28, at a time when she was still considered a natural beauty. After that surgery she moved to Japan to continue her career, and there she kept receiving injections that gradually enlarged her face. The pattern of repeated procedures, each meant to refine or correct the last, set in motion an addiction that is reported to have lasted around 20 years before the cooking oil incident that drew wider attention to her case.
Descent into addiction
A doctor who had been administering silicone injections to her eventually handed her a syringe and silicone so she could inject herself at home. When that supply ran out in 2008, she began injecting cooking oil into her own face instead. The disfigurement that followed was severe enough that her own parents could not recognize her when she returned to Korea. Children in her neighborhood nicknamed her the standing fan, because her swollen face looked disproportionately large next to her small body.
Doctors who examined her diagnosed a plastic surgery addiction along with a mental disorder and recommended psychotherapy. She began seeing a psychiatrist but stopped treatment so she could keep searching for a surgeon willing to operate on her again, choosing to pursue further procedures over continuing the psychiatric care that had been recommended to her.
Reconstruction and later life
Her first corrective surgery was funded by donations. Surgeons removed 60 grams of silicone, cooking oil and other substances from her face, and 200 grams more from her neck. Even after multiple reconstructive operations, obvious scarring remained and her original appearance could not be restored.
She later worked at a recycled clothing shop in South Korea called The Beautiful Shop, a quieter chapter after years of surgery, injections, and the public attention that followed the cooking oil case.
Legacy
Hang Mioku’s case has been widely cited by American cosmetic surgeons as an extreme example of the harm caused by do-it-yourself cosmetic procedures carried out by unqualified practitioners. The combination of a mental disorder, repeated silicone injections, and eventual self-administered cooking oil injections made her story a reference point in discussions of plastic surgery addiction. She died at home in South Korea in December 2018 at age 57.
Data sources
Data updated: 2026-11-13