Is tattooing art or medical practice?

Korean tattoo artist Kim Do-yoon, also known as Doy, gives a tattoo to a client. Courtesy of Kim Do-yoon

By Lee Hae-rin

Tattooing has continued to spark debate after a long history of social stigma in Korea.

Since the 20th century, tattoos have long been negatively associated with organized crime in Korea. Gangsters adopted the Japanese yakuza's practice to ink frightening drawings of tigers, snakes, goblins and dragons on their skin, often big enough to cover their entire arms and upper bodies.

Tattoos have since been widely seen to instill fear, and tattooed people have been discouraged from revealing their ink in public. The country's deeply rooted Confucian culture also means that it is expected that people should refrain from altering their parent-given bodies. This notion undoubtedly also contributed to the intolerance of tattooing one's body.

Until recently, tattoos even hindered young men from fully serving their mandatory military service. It wasn't until February last year that the Military Manpower Administration abolished the regulation to exempt those with tattoos larger than seven centimeters in diameter and 30 centimeters square in size from serving as active-duty soldiers.

In this combined photo, the tattoos of Monica, a Korean dancer, are made less visible with tape and blurring for Mnet's popular dance competition show "Street Women Fighter." Captured from internet

Tattoos remain taboo in the mainstream media. Television producers cover up actors' tattoos with skin-colored tape, although the Korea Communications Commission has no specific regulation on televising tattoos on screen.

Ironically, the country saw the birth of its contemporary tattoo culture amid this hostile environment.

To differentiate themselves from the organized crime stereotype and reshape the public's negative perceptions, modern Korean tattooists have mastered sophisticated techniques that enable more detailed and sentimental designs and created a new tattooing style of their own, Kim Do-yoon, a veteran tattoo artist with 16 years of experience who founded and leads a local tattooist labor union told The Korea Times in a recent interview.

"In today's tattoo industry, Korean artists are known as among the best technicians in the world," Kim said, citing the high demand for Korean artists at internationally renowned tattoo studios in New York and Los Angeles.

Pictures of tattoos inked by Kim Do-yoon / Captured from Kim Do-yoon's Instagram

With his experience as a first-generation tattoo artist, Kim said he witnessed how Koreans have been growing more open and tolerant. Tattoos are no longer seen as a menace or an emblem of criminality but as a form of art and self-expression, popular among ordinary young people including students, office workers and housewives.

However, the country's legal system remains at odds with this reality. Kim and the country's estimated 250,000 fellow artists are criminalized for performing "an act of medical service" that is limited to being performed by licensed doctors under the current Medical Service Act.

In Thursday's ruling by the Constitutional Court, Kim's tattoo on a Korean actor has been upheld as a criminal act because it could "endanger public health" and may bring potential side effects and safety issues.

The case dates back to 2019, when a viewer who watched a YouTube video of the actor getting a tattoo from Kim filed a complaint against her for undergoing an "illegal cosmetic procedure."

But receiving a tattoo is not illegal, and so the complaint was forwarded to Kim, the tattooist. Kim was given a summary indictment of a 5 million won fine, but with his fellow artists and a group of attorneys, he decided to take the case to the Constitutional Court hoping to overturn the repeated rulings against the tattoo industry.

The court's rulings on the matter have been consistent since 1992, but come as a surprise to many tattoo artists overseas.

Kirk Martin, a Canadian tattooist who lived in Korea from 2006 to 2018, thinks the law fails to reflect the hygienic standards and professionalism of Korea's tattoo artists and forces the industry underground where artists and their customers are less protected.

Canadian tattoo artist Kirk Martin gives a tattoo to a client at his studio in Halifax, Canada. Courtesy of Sin on Skin Tattoo Studio

"If they (the court) were really concerned about people's health, they would establish a system that protects the clients and the artists that tattoo … If it is properly regulated, it would be safer for both parties, which is what tattoo artists in Korea have been pushing for for years."

Kim confessed that he is perceived as an activist within the international circle of tattoo artists, struggling against one of the world's last nonsensical regulations against them. When he joined the meeting of over 150 international tattooists in Spain earlier in July, many artists expressed their regrets about Korea's situation and showed their support for him, Kim said.

As the domestic tattoo industry exists outside the purview of the law, the artists face risks in their everyday lives.

According to Kim, at least six of the over 700 members of his labor union have been sentenced to jail and many others have had to pay fines, as the current law prohibits them from tattooing without a medical license, which very few of the country's over 250,000 tattooists possess. Punishments include up to two years in jail or fines up to 10 million won ($7,462).

"Some clients even threaten practitioners after getting a tattoo and refusing to pay, saying 'If I report you, you'll have to pay a fine and become a criminal,'" Kim said. Female artists are especially vulnerable to sexual violence and other crimes, as they choose not to reach out to police due to the fear of being reported for running an illegal business.

Tattoo artist Kim Do-yoon, leader of the tattooist labor union / Courtesy of Kim Do-yoon

Attorney Kwak Yae-ram from the Korean law firm Ohwol, who has been representing Kim in court, said Korea is the only developed country in the world that defines tattooing as an "act of medical service" and criminalizes its trade.

Other countries often have heavy regulations on granting tattooists licenses and run regular inspections. Martin, who apprenticed in Korea and now works as a tattoo artist in Canada, explained that Canada requires various certifications to show that tattoo practitioners like him have been trained properly, and they are subjected to regular health checkups and inspections.

"The Constitutional Court decided that alternative policies (to regulate tattooing and protect public health) that have been implemented and practiced in other countries are inadequate to protect public health," Kwak said.

"Even when done by a fully licensed doctor, tattooing is still illegal here because tattooing machines and inks have never been certified and registered as medical devices," Kim said. "That is because no country (that produces and exports tattooing devices) in the world defines tattooing as a medical practice."

Kwak confirmed that even an act of medical service performed by a medical practitioner would be illegal if performed with a non-medical device.