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Chop about half an inch or so off your tongue and become a fluent English speaker?

That is the hope that recently drove one mother to take her six-year-old son for surgery aimed at ridding him of his Korean accent when speaking the language of choice in global business.

Driven by a desire to give their kids an edge in an increasingly competitive society, a surprising number of South Koreans have turned to the knife in a seemingly drastic bid to help their offspring perfect their English.

"Those who have a short frenulum (a strap of tissue linking the tongue to the floor of the mouth) can face problems pronouncing some characters due to a disturbance in lateral movements of the tongue," said Bae Jung-ho, an oral surgeon at Seoul's Yonsei Severance Hospital, who operated on the six-year-old last month.

Bae said it takes about five minutes to complete the operation, called a frenotomy, which slices about half an inch off the frenulum to make the tongue more flexible.

"There is a razor-thin risk of complications and, unless it is the best option possible, we don't recommend it."

Bae said that he had received many inquiries about the operation, mostly for children aged between 12 months and 10 years. Of these, only 10 to 20 percent had led to surgery.

The doctor said he performed the surgery, which costs about $125, once or twice per month.

For a tangible improvement for those with ankyloglossia -- the medical term for those with a short frenulum -- months of language training is needed even after surgery.

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