A group of Korean plastic surgeons will restore the face of a 19-year-old Malaysian woman who was severely scarred in an acid attack.

The surgery will be part of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Medical Korea project that provides pro bono surgery to foreign patients in need of state-of-the-art procedures.

The patient, Tan Hui Linn, arrived at Seoul on Wednesday evening and had a medical consultation with JK Plastic Surgery Center in southern Seoul the next day. Based on examination results, the medics will decide whether the surgical procedures are suitable. JK is regarded as one of the leading plastic surgery centers in the country.

If the surgery goes ahead, the surgeons will first work on recovering Hui Linn’s eyebrows and the lower lip and jaw areas. Experts said Hui Linn’s case requires several operations.

Hui Linn arrived with Malaysian senator YB Jeff Ooi, who has run a fundraising campaign for her rehabilitation and arranged for her to join the project for patients requiring surgery. Ooi will leave next week, while Hui Linn will stay until early next year.

According to the Malaysia Star, Hui Linn’s body and limbs were scarred after her father Lim Teik Swee splashed acid on her mother and her while they were sleeping at home on Oct. 24, 2009. Her mother died while Hui Linn lost the sight right eye. Her other eye has limited vision.

Hui Linn, who is reluctant to reveal herself to the media, told the newspaper that the surgery will help her pursue her accounting studies in Kuala Lumpur.

“I want to focus on my ACCA examination at a private college in Kuala Lumpur,” she told the newspaper.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)