South Korean tattoo artists draw hope as presidential candidate floats legalisation
- South Korea only allows medical professionals to ink tattoos, leaving some 50,000 artists facing potential raids, fines of up to US$42,000, or jail time
- As the country gears up for the March 9 presidential election, one candidate has backed legalising the estimated US$1 billion industry
South Korea is the sole developed country in the world where tattooing is considered a procedure that only medical professionals are capable of legally performing.
That leaves almost all of the country’s 50,000 tattoo artists at the mercy of potential police raids and prosecution, facing fines of up to 50 million won (US$42,000) as well as prison sentences, in theory as much as life terms.
Doy, who like many fellow tattooists practises from a modest building with no signage, was himself fined 5 million won (US$4,180) last year after a video of him inking a popular Korean actress went viral.
The 43-year-old has appealed the ruling. A survey conducted by the union of 650 tattoo artists Doy leads has also found six cases since last April of artists being sentenced to jail – usually for two years.
South Korea’s ‘illegal’ tattoo artists fight to change laws that say only doctors can apply ink
But change could well be on its way.
