'I'll delete all my SNS': Korean tutor denies plastic surgery allegations

A Korean language tutor in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, who went viral online for a striking appearance has pushed back against plastic surgery allegations and a wave of malicious comments, asking the public to stop the baseless criticism.

Ahn Seung-yeon, the tutor, recently posted on SNS to address the hostile remarks. "I'm a person too, and I read all the comments — I'll speak up when something is unfair," Ahn said.

"If I had facial contouring surgery or had my jaw shaved down, I would genuinely delete all my SNS accounts," Ahn said. "I'll go to a hospital and prove it, so please stop the unconditional criticism."

Videos of Ahn lecturing in front of a whiteboard and introducing themselves spread across online communities and SNS on Tuesday. The striking appearance drew such attention that some speculated Ahn might be an AI-generated virtual figure, and the surge of interest appears to have fueled both the plastic surgery allegations and the hostile comments.

Ahn teaches Korean language in Daechi-dong and runs a YouTube channel called "Ahn Seung-yeon Haseyo Gukeoipnida," a Korean language channel.

In one video, Ahn introduced themselves as a graduate of Ewha Womans University with a degree in Korean language and literature, and shared a score report showing top marks across all subjects — including Korean — on the 2019 college entrance exam.

"I am the icon of what Koreans call '9-mang-su-jal' — someone who bombs the September mock exam but aces the real one," Ahn said, encouraging students. "If you put in bone-grinding effort, you can turn things around on exam day."

Ahn said ranking 250th out of 450 students in the first year of high school, then clawing up to third in the class by the second year through relentless effort. Ahn also said receiving a third-grade score on the September mock exam — a major setback — before pulling off a full reversal on the actual college entrance exam, earning top marks in every subject. On the Korean section of the 2019 exam, Ahn said scoring in the 99th percentile, placing among the top performers nationwide.