The watershed law would permit non-medical personnel to provide tattooing services
South Korea’s National Assembly is expected to pass the Tattooist Act, which permits non-medical personnel to legally provide tattooing services.
The Associated Press reported that under the law, tattoo artists will be able to secure official licenses under a process that mandates them to complete annual hygiene courses at government-designated facilities. The legislation has received bipartisan support, including from the Health Ministry, and was approved by the assembly’s health and judiciary committees.
The National Assembly could pass the law as early as Thursday September 25 during a scheduled plenary session. It will then go into effect after a two-year grace period.
Thus far, South Korea remains the sole developed country that regulates tattooing services; tattoo artists could be imprisoned for a maximum of five years and fined 50 million won (US$35,740). This followed a 1992 Supreme Court decision that labelled tattooing as a medical treatment that only licensed doctors could provide given the possible health risks related to needles and inks.
The South Korean government has largely been lenient in its enforcement of the regulation, allowing tattoo artists to operate in secret. Of late, judges have backed artists or laid down deferred judgments to shield them from penalties.
Nonetheless, artists have been fined, and they operate under the possibility that their businesses could be flagged to officials. Thus, tattoo artists have had to tolerate poor conduct from customers; some have been blackmailed, and female tattoo artists have sexually assaulted.
Thousands of tattoo artists in the country have challenged the regulation via rallies and constitutional appeals. Korea Tattoo Federation head Lim Bo-ran said she encouraged tattoo artists to appeal fines to higher courts. While Lim welcomed the Tattooist Act’s passage, she noted that it would subject tattoo artists to government supervision.
“I began this even though I knew it was illegal, but I was confident that legal restrictions would be eased and things would change,” said Song Jaemin, a Goyang-based tattoo artist, in a statement published by AP News. “Many tattoo artists think we are not doing illegal things and there is just no law for us.”
