Young Jun Kim
Board-certified plastic surgeon in Korea and Medical Director of Violacell Plastic Surgery in Gangnam, Seoul, who plans lifting layer by layer: first finding which layer of the face has changed, then choosing surgery or non-surgical treatment for that layer.
Dr. Kim is in his 16th year of practice as a plastic surgeon. He graduated from Chonnam National University Medical School, completed his plastic surgery residency at Chonnam National University, and served there as a clinical professor of plastic surgery before directing plastic surgery clinics in Seoul. He holds a Master of Science in Medicine and is a full member of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and the Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, a full member of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), and an international member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He is the first author of a peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed study in Archives of Plastic Surgery (2013) showing that Koreans rate a normal facial appearance as important as communication, breathing, speech and vision, and he completed an advanced rhinoplasty workshop at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas. His research identifier is ORCID 0009-0006-8403-5156.
At Violacell Plastic Surgery his practice is non-surgical. He concentrates on three treatments: Ulthera (including Ultherapy PRIME), Sculptra, and Thermage combined with the skin booster Re2O. His training in facial surgery shapes how he uses them: he judges which layer of the face has changed, and when a facelift, forehead lift, eyelid surgery or liposuction would serve a patient better than another device session, he says so. Those operations are not performed at Violacell.
With Ulthera, his attention is on how the shots are distributed rather than on the total number. He plans the treatment by combining the device's real-time ultrasound image with palpation, feeling the tissue by hand to judge its thickness, the amount of fat, the bone contours beneath it, and the areas where energy should be reduced or avoided.
Key Facts
Dr. Young Jun Kim is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Korea practising at Violacell Plastic Surgery in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where he is Medical Director. He trained in plastic surgery at Chonnam National University, where he later served as a clinical professor. At Violacell he provides non-surgical lifting and skin treatment, focusing on Ulthera, Sculptra, and Thermage combined with Re2O, and advises patients when surgery would be the better option.
| Name | Young Jun KimDr. Young Jun Kim, M.D. · Publication author name: Kim YJ |
| Position | Medical Director, Violacell Plastic Surgery · Board-certified plastic surgeon (Korea) |
| Education | Chonnam National University Medical School (M.D.) · Master of Science in Medicine, Chonnam National University Graduate School (2013)Master's thesis on the importance of facial appearance as a function of the face in Koreans, supervised by Prof. Kwang Seog Kim · RISS record |
| Residency | Plastic surgery residency, Chonnam National University |
| Academic appointment | Clinical professor of plastic surgery, Chonnam National University |
| Previous positions | Director, BRAUN Plastic Surgery (Sinsa-dong, Seoul) · Director, Liting Plastic Surgery, Seoul branch (through 2024) |
| Experience | 16th year of practice as a plastic surgeon |
| Treatment focus | Ulthera and Ultherapy PRIME with shot distribution planned from ultrasound imaging and palpation; Sculptra; Thermage combined with Re2O (all non-surgical) |
| Surgical training | Plastic surgery residency and clinical professorship, Chonnam National University. Surgery is not currently performed at Violacell; the surgery pages on this website are guides to help patients judge whether they need it. |
| Societies in Korea | Full member, Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons · Full member, Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery · Full member, Korean Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery · Full member, Korean Association of Plastic Surgeons · Full member, Korean anti-aging research society · Member, minimally invasive surgery study group of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons |
| International societies | Full member, International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) · International member, American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) |
| Sculptra | One of the 30 Sculptra key doctor masters gathered by Galderma Korea for THE ORIGINAL SCULPTRA Master Summit, Conrad Seoul (January 2026); panelist · BioTimes · Medical Observer |
| Lectures | Speaker, HILO WAVE launch symposium, Busan (April 2026): "Dual-HA collagen booster injection code: a strategic approach that plans the lift first while keeping natural volume" · report Theory lecture, DEEP Symposium hosted by Daewoong Pharmaceutical and DNC Aesthetics, Seoul (August 2026), on stepwise combination treatment for skin quality and contouring, to about 100 clinicians · report |
| Industry events | Invited to the Asia-Pacific launch of Ultherapy PRIME at the Grand Hyatt Seoul (July 2025), where invitations for doctors in Korea were limited to 50 |
| Writing for patients | Doctor's columns and signed answers to patient questions for Violacell Plastic Surgery, on Ulthera, Ultherapy PRIME, skin boosters including Re2O, collagen stimulators and lifting |
| Additional training | Advanced rhinoplasty workshop, UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas |
| Presentation | Topic presentation in the facial session at a Korean plastic and reconstructive surgery scientific meeting (2013) |
| Publication | First author, “The Functionality of Facial Appearance and Its Importance to a Korean Population,” Archives of Plastic Surgery 2013;40(6):715–720 · PubMed 24286044 |
| ORCID iD | 0009-0006-8403-5156 |
| Affiliation | Violacell Plastic Surgery · 3F, 138 Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (near Sinsa Station) · +82-2-518-9119 |
| Related links | Clinic doctor profile · ORCID · PubMed · Clinic blog |
How Dr. Kim Approaches the Aging Face
The face does not age in one layer. Skin thins, fat compartments shrink or descend, the supporting layer beneath the fat loosens, and the brows and eyelids change position. Treatments act on different layers, so the plan starts by deciding which change is the main one.
A surgeon's judgement for non-surgical treatment
Dr. Kim trained as a plastic surgeon, so the comparison between devices and surgery is part of every consultation, even though he does not perform surgery at Violacell. When sagging is early, a device or Sculptra may be enough for the moment. When tissue has clearly descended or excess skin has formed, he explains why repeated device treatments are unlikely to substitute for a lift.
Eyes are assessed with the brows
Heavy upper eyelids can come from excess eyelid skin, from low brows, from a weakened eye-opening muscle, or from a combination. Removing eyelid skin when the real cause is a low brow can bring the brow lower still. Brow position and eye-opening strength are therefore checked before choosing between upper blepharoplasty, forehead lift or eye-opening correction.
Distribution rather than totals
In Ulthera, the total number of shots tells you little on its own. The same total can be spread evenly or concentrated where the tissue actually needs it, at depths matched to how thick the tissue is in each area. Dr. Kim uses the ultrasound image and palpation together to decide this distribution.
Limits are part of the explanation
Every procedure on this website includes the situations where it is not suitable and the complications it can cause. A plan is only finalised after an in-person examination, and the right decision is sometimes to wait, to choose a smaller procedure, or to choose surgery instead of another device session.
In His Own Words
From an interview when Violacell Plastic Surgery opened (December 2024) and from coverage of his 2026 lecture. These statements are the source of the "layer by layer" approach described on this website.
"In practice, not many doctors who perform aesthetic treatments look at both the inside and the outside of the tissue."
"For the patient's sake, procedures and surgery should both be weighed together, with a flexible approach that combines them."
"Rather than being confined to one specialty, a doctor should look at what the patient needs and propose the treatment most likely to give a suitable and satisfying result."
"A precise injection strategy grounded in anatomical understanding allows a more stable and natural approach."
Sources: clinic opening interview, Eroun.net (2024); HILO WAVE launch symposium coverage, Bokuen News (2026), which describes his lecture as an injection strategy built around each person's facial skeleton and tissue layers. Translated from Korean.
Why Dr. Kim for Ulthera, Sculptra and Thermage
Surgical anatomy from residency and a clinical professorship, Ulthera designed from imaging and palpation, an invitation to the Ultherapy PRIME Asia launch, selection among Galderma Korea's 30 Sculptra key doctor masters, and lectures to clinicians on injection and combination treatment.
The Functionality of Facial Appearance and Its Importance to a Korean Population
Kim YJ (first author), et al. Archives of Plastic Surgery. 2013;40(6):715–720. A survey of 300 Korean adults that measured how much people value a normal facial appearance compared with the other functions of the face.
Treatments and Guides
Treatments Dr. Kim provides (Ulthera, Sculptra, Thermage and Re2O), followed by guides to surgery he can advise on.