Korea’s 365mc opens AI fat-removal clinic in Los Angeles

The Korean medical chain 365mc, which has built its entire business around fat removal, is bringing its signature procedure to the United States for the first time.

The company plans to open a clinic in Los Angeles this September, introducing a rapid, AI-assisted liposuction technique that requires no sedation, incisions or long recovery times.

Unlike traditional procedures that require sedation or long recovery periods, 365mc’s method, called LAMS, relies on local anesthesia and skips the incisions entirely.

Short for Local Anesthetic Minimal-Invasive Liposuction, the procedure is designed to remove fat cells in about 10 minutes. Patients walk in and out without compression garments, stitches or downtime, the company says.

“We’ve spent 22 years specializing in just one thing: fat,” said Kim Nam-chul, the company’s chief executive. “We believe our deep expertise and refined systems can compete globally.”

The clinic will be operated through a newly formed subsidiary, 365mc USA, and led by Angie Trias Sanchez, a family medicine physician based in Burbank, California.

“Everyone deserves access to safe, precise body contouring,” she said in a statement. Sanchez currently practices at OC Health Wellness Group and focuses on preventive care and lifestyle-based treatment.

The move comes on the heels of a broader expansion across Southeast Asia. Since opening its first international clinic in Indonesia in 2023, 365mc has added three more sites there and one in Thailand. 

A fifth overseas location is set to open in Ho Chi Minh City next month. Company officials say strong demand in those markets has helped lay the foundation for a push into more mature health economies like the United States.

In a release Tuesday, a company spokesperson described the Los Angeles opening as “not a simple overseas launch but a critical bridgehead to expand into North America and Europe.” 365mc also described itself as the first Korean obesity clinic to enter the U.S. market.

In 2017, 365mc partnered with Microsoft to develop an AI platform that tracks cannula movement during surgery, analyzing speed and direction to detect anomalies and predict outcomes. The system, which helps reduce human error in real time, received a U.S. patent in 2023.

The company says the Los Angeles site could become a proving ground for additional AI-based systems and a launchpad for partnerships with American researchers and digital health companies. In 2021, 365mc collaborated with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on a study examining how fat is stored differently in men and women.