93-Year-Old South Korean School Principal Shocks Everyone With Her Age-Defying Looks: “Is She A Vampire?” Netizens Ask

Move over skincare influencers, South Korean principal Dr Lee Gil-ya is putting trendy anti-aging serums to shame.

The 93-year-old (yes, 93!) recently went viral after appearing in a promotional video for Gachon University where she spoke about artificial intelligence.

It won't come as a surprise if not many people took note of her speech as it was her remarkable age-defying appearance that stole the spotlight.

“Is she a vampire?” asked a netizen.

Even we did a double take as we honestly don't think she looks anywhere near that age.

Another wrote, “She might be the youngest-looking 93-year-old person in the world”.

However, this isn’t the first time Gil-ya has made headlines for her extremely youthful appearance.

In 2023 at age 91, she surprised everyone with her nimble moves as she performed Psy’s popular horse-riding dance from his song, ‘Gangnam Style’.

Instead of gatekeeping her secrets to looking youthful, Gil-ya, who is also one of South Korea’s first female doctors, has openly shared how she ages gracefully in an interview with Herald Business.

She avoids alcohol and smoking, swaps out coffee for tea, and stays hydrated by drinking 1.5 liters of plain water a day.

Gil-ya also goes for regular laser treatments at a dermatology clinic, and always has a humidifier running in her room.

Now, we need the name of her dermatologist, please?

Incidentally, Gil-ya has never married or had kids.

Could that be the real anti-aging hack? We can't help but wonder, especially when she mentioned to “avoid stimulants and do not stress much” as part of her anti-aging process.

“My patients and students are my husband and children,” she once said, and has devoted her life to help better the life of others.

Gil-ya once revealed that when she was a kid, she got inspired to become a doctor when she witnessed the poor dying without proper care.

A graduate of Seoul National University College of Medicine, she furthered her studies in the United States and Japan, and went on to open a gynecology clinic in 1958, putting in place a no-deposit policy for patients who couldn’t afford to pay for treatment.      

Her mission to make healthcare accessible didn’t just stop there.

At the age of 65, Gil-ya went on to open the Gachon Medical School offering free housing and tuition.

As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Gil-ya also runs South Korea’s biggest public interest foundation, where she has provided free heart surgeries for at least 432 children from 70 countries.

The foundation also offers free uterine cancer screenings for women.

She must be doing something right as she seems to have more energy at 93 than others who are decades younger than her.