Clear SMILE LASIK in Korea: What Each Name Really Means

I'm Dr. Kim Sun-young, medical director of Healing Eye Clinic in Sinnonhyeon, Gangnam, Seoul. I was a clinical professor of cornea and cataract surgery at a university hospital, and every week I sit with patients from abroad, with an English interpreter in the room, untangling the names they've read online.

One message comes up again and again: "Dr. Kim, I'd like the Clear SMILE LASIK. How much is it?"

If you searched clear smile lasik korea, you've probably met all three words on clinic websites and assumed they describe one procedure. That's completely understandable — the names really do overlap.

So let me be honest straight away: at our clinic there is no single procedure called "Clear SMILE LASIK." Clear LASIK and SMILE are two different operations, and the biggest difference between them is whether a flap is lifted.

Clear SMILE LASIK in Korea: three names, two procedures

Here's how I untangle it in the consultation room, one name at a time.

1. "Clear" — at our clinic, a LASIK with a flap

Clear LASIK is our fourth-generation LASIK. A thin, even corneal flap is lifted, the tissue underneath is reshaped to your exam data, and the flap is laid back.

The word "Clear" refers to that design — a thinner, more uniform flap and a laser profile mapped to your eye. It doesn't mean flapless. That's the misunderstanding I correct most often.

2. "SMILE" — no flap, even when it's called "SMILE LASIK"

SMILE shapes a thin lens of tissue inside the cornea and removes it through a 2–4mm opening. Nothing is lifted or folded back.

People attach "LASIK" to SMILE because LASIK is the word everyone knows. It's a nickname, handy in conversation but misleading when you're choosing an operation.

3. "LASIK" — a family name, not one operation

LASIK covers several flap-based designs. At our clinic that includes Clear LASIK, Personal Custom LASIK and the LASIK in our Premium LASIK & LASEK package.

What they share is the flap. What differs is how it's made and how the correction is designed.

Who each one suits is in my SMILE LASIK Korea surgeon's guide.

Why I'd rather explain names than sell them

At our clinic, the doctor who examines you is the doctor who operates and the doctor who checks you afterwards. So the name on your consent form is chosen by the person who measured your cornea, not by whatever you searched.

Things you can check: international patients pay the same price as Korean patients, we hold 4.8 stars from 154 Google reviews, and I'm a full member of ESCRS, the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. I mention them as evidence, not decoration.

So which name is the one I actually want?

Translate the names into what happens to your eye.

Price, by name. Clear LASIK is ₩2,700,000 for both eyes (list ₩2,900,000). Presbyopic Clear LASIK is ₩3,000,000. The Premium LASIK & LASEK package is ₩1,990,000. SMILE is quoted after the exam, which is ₩150,000. Everything is on our price page.

If you've narrowed it down to two, SMILE vs LASIK in Korea compares them for people flying in. The Korean head office describes Clear LASIK in more depth on its Clear LASIK page.

Side effects don't change with the name

Whatever it's called, laser surgery has the same honest list.

• Temporary dryness, usually milder after SMILE than after flap-based LASIK.
• Night glare and halos, more likely with large pupils, usually easing as the eye heals.
• Residual prescription, possible with any of them.
• A flap edge for life with Clear LASIK; rarely, a strong blow can affect it.

I'd steer you away from all flap-based LASIK if your cornea is thin, irregular or shows any sign of keratoconus. Very high myopia usually points to ICL instead.

Practical notes for the trip

• At least three nights for Clear LASIK or SMILE, four recommended.
• A changeable flight: the exam can switch the procedure.
• Stop contact lenses first: at least one week for soft lenses, longer for rigid ones.
• We're one minute from Sinnonhyeon Station, about 70 minutes from Incheon Airport.
• After you fly home, your one-week, one-month and three-month checks can be done locally with the written record we give you.

What happens on the table with SMILE is walked through in SMILE eye surgery in Korea, step by step.

Don't book a name — book the exam

Names are marketing. Your cornea is anatomy. Let the second decide.

It doesn't have to be our clinic. But choose one that can tell you, in one sentence, whether your procedure lifts a flap — and why that's right for your eye.

Send your prescription, age and what matters most to you on WhatsApp. If the procedure you had in mind isn't right, I'll tell you plainly and explain what is.

I hope to see you in Seoul.

— Dr. Kim Sun-young, Medical Director, Healing Eye Clinic (Sinnonhyeon, Gangnam, Seoul)