Tattoo artist calls for all body inking to be legal at audit

The debate on legalizing tattooing by non-medical practitioners further heightened on Thursday, after a veteran tattoo artist called to scrap the decades-old regulation that officially restricts the practice to only being conducted by licensed medical personnel.

"I looked around the room, and about half of the people here have tattoos. But I don't think there's a single person who got it legally," Kim Do-yoon, who heads the country's first labor union of tattooists, told lawmakers during Wednesday's parliamentary audit.

"I have worked with Hollywood actors such as Brad Pitt, Lily Collins, Steven Yeun and those who starred in 'Avengers.' Although I'm well-known and make big bucks, customers often threaten other tattooists for engaging in illegal activities. Some even took their own lives," Kim said. He stressed that people overseas view the tattoo classification in Korea as "excessively restrictive."

The restrictive environment dates back to a Supreme Court ruling in 1992 that defined tattooing as a "medical service." In 2022, the Constitutional Court upheld its previous ruling that tattooing is an act of medical service, adding that allowing non-licensed practitioners could put people's health at risk, as well as harm public health due to improper hygiene practices.

In addition, Article 27 of the Medical Service Act stipulates that medical practices, including tattooing, can only be conducted by licensed medical personnel. Violations can be subject to fines of up to 50 million won ($36,000) or a jail term of up to five years.

During the inspection session, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong concurred with creating the legal framework to regulate tattoos given done by non-medical practitioners. Cho, however, told lawmakers that finding common ground among stakeholders, including the medical circle and various tattoo organizations, is challenging, declining to comment further on the issue.

Kim said he and other tattoo professionals would comply with the established rules once the regulations were set.

While tattoo artists have long claimed that the court action violates their freedom of expression and the right to engage in an occupation, doctors have voiced concerns over legalizing the tattoo industry.

The Korean Medical Association -- the largest lobbying group for doctors -- stated in October last year that the act of cosmetic tattooing involves invading the skin barrier and poses a high risk to public health. Instead, the doctors' group suggested alternatives such as using tattoo stickers, which offer similar aesthetics in a less invasive way.