South Korea is taking duty-free shopping to a whole new level, with plans to exclude face lifts, breast enlargements and liposuction from value-added tax for tourists.

Desperate to boost tourism after an outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus hurt the economy, the country will give tourists a 10 percent refund on cosmetic surgery for a year starting in April of next year.

MERS led to more than a 40 percent drop in the number of tourists visiting South Korea in June. Visitors from Taiwan and Hong Kong fell the most, by 76 percent and 75 percent each from a year earlier.