Eight out of 10 Korean women over the age of 18 feel they need cosmetic surgery, and one out of two has undergone cosmetic surgery at least once, a survey has found.

According to a doctoral dissertation published Tuesday by Um Hyun-shin of Kyung Hee University's Clothing and Textiles department, a survey of 810 women aged 18 and over living in Seoul and Gyeonggi revealed that 69.9 percent, or 566 of the respondents, said that they suffered stress because of their appearance.

In particular, 81.5 percent of women between 25 and 29 felt the need for cosmetic surgery and 61.5 percent of that group said they have already had it, suggesting that cosmetic surgery has become commonplace for 20-something Korean women.

As to whether cosmetic surgery is necessary, 72.6 percent of respondents said it should be done if needed, while only 20.4% said it should be avoided if possible. Asked to identify which areas of their appearance they were most dissatisfied with, 17.1 percent said their lower body, followed by the abdomen (14.6 percent), body weight (12.5 percent), height (11.6 percent), skin (11.1 percent), face (9.6 percent), and upper body (9.5 percent).

The most important factor in determining beauty was cited as the face (25.8 percent) and body shape (18.6 percent), which placed above personality (13.5 percent) and attitude (10 percent). As confirmation of Korean society's emphasis on appearance, 55 percent agreed that "external factors, rather than internal factors, are more important in defining a person's beauty."