Last year's Miss Korea winner pushes back on plastic surgery debate: 'Does being natural raise your worth?'

Jung Yeon-woo, crowned Miss Korea in 2025. [Jung Yeon-woo SNS]

As plastic surgery allegations swirl around Woo Seo-yun, 22, the newly crowned 2026 Miss Korea winner and eldest daughter of former basketball player Woo Ji-won, last year's titleholder Jung Yeon-woo, 25, has spoken out with a pointed take on the recurring debate.

Jung took to social media Sunday, saying the most common remarks she had heard throughout her Miss Korea experience were about plastic surgery. "I have watched, time and again, not only myself but also the colleagues I care about being easily hurt by such rude and worthless words," she wrote.

On the question of whether she herself had undergone surgery, Jung said she had not had plastic surgery but had received cosmetic procedures on multiple occasions. "I am more curious about why people are so interested in whether others have had surgery," she wrote. "Does being a natural beauty raise your worth, and does not being one lower it?"

She went on to say that a person's worth is not something anyone can arbitrarily assign — and that it is even less something determined by appearance. "What does it even matter whether someone has had surgery?" she added.

Jung also acknowledged what she saw as a tension in her own position. "Miss Korea is a competition that evaluates image and appeal, including appearance, so I wonder if it is a little contradictory to say a person's worth cannot be judged arbitrarily while also expressing resistance to being evaluated on looks," she wrote.

She was also quick to push back against the idea that Miss Korea is purely a beauty contest, saying the competition does not rank contestants on appearance alone.

"What many people misunderstand is that Miss Korea is not judged solely on looks," she said. "We go through multiple rounds of private evaluation before taking the stage — one-on-one interviews, current-affairs presentations, self-introductions and talent showcases, all tailored to the competition's theme."

Jung said she felt a bitter sense that the efforts of the contestants and the essence of the competition itself were being diminished. "I feel sorry for those who scrutinize every feature of someone else's face looking for what has changed, those who are convinced someone has had surgery without even trying to look closely, those trapped in their own narrow thinking who behave rudely toward others, those who feel no shame about it, and those who simply cannot see other people any other way," she wrote.

Woo Seo-yun as she appeared on tvN's "Nest Escape 3" in 2018 at age 16 (left), alongside a recent photo. [tvN·Woo Seo-yun SNS]

Woo was crowned at the 70th Miss Korea pageant held Aug. 22 at COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Having qualified as Miss Seoul-Gyeonggi Province-Incheon, she drew attention on stage for her height and striking looks before ultimately taking the top title.

Accepting the crown, Woo said her fellow contestants had worked incredibly hard. "Through painstaking, blood-and-sweat effort, we were able to put together a wonderful stage," she said.

The daughter of former basketball player Woo Ji-won, she is majoring in fine arts at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. She has appeared on television since childhood, with credits including SBS's "Star Junior Show Bungeo-ppang" and tvN's "Nest Escape 3," and most recently appeared on tvN Story's "My Child's Romance 2" in February.

After her crowning, however, old footage and photos from her earlier television appearances began circulating online alongside recent images, sparking plastic surgery allegations.

Woo aspires to become a global art curator while pursuing her fine arts degree at Tufts University.

yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com