The talk on legalizing tattooing by non-medical practitioners additional heightened on Thursday, after a veteran tattoo artist known as to scrap the decades-old regulation that formally restricts the follow to solely being performed by licensed medical personnel.
“I seemed across the room, and about half of the folks right here have tattoos. However I do not assume there is a single one that bought it legally,” Kim Do-yoon, who heads the nation’s first labor union of tattooists, advised lawmakers throughout Wednesday’s parliamentary audit.
“I’ve labored with Hollywood actors comparable to Brad Pitt, Lily Collins, Steven Yeun and people who starred in ‘Avengers.’ Though I am well-known and make huge bucks, prospects usually threaten different tattooists for participating in unlawful actions. Some even took their very own lives,” Kim stated. He harassed that individuals abroad view the tattoo classification in Korea as “excessively restrictive.”
The restrictive atmosphere dates again to a Supreme Court docket ruling in 1992 that outlined tattooing as a “medical service.” In 2022, the Constitutional Court docket upheld its earlier ruling that tattooing is an act of medical service, including that permitting non-licensed practitioners might put folks’s well being in danger, in addition to hurt public well being because of improper hygiene practices.
As well as, Article 27 of the Medical Service Act stipulates that medical practices, together with tattooing, can solely be performed by licensed medical personnel. Violations might be topic to fines of as much as 50 million received ($36,000) or a jail time period of as much as 5 years.
Through the inspection session, Well being Minister Cho Kyoo-hong concurred with creating the authorized framework to manage tattoos given finished by non-medical practitioners. Cho, nonetheless, advised lawmakers that discovering widespread floor amongst stakeholders, together with the medical circle and varied tattoo organizations, is difficult, declining to remark additional on the difficulty.
Kim stated he and different tattoo professionals would adjust to the established guidelines as soon as the rules had been set.
Whereas tattoo artists have lengthy claimed that the court docket motion violates their freedom of expression and the proper to interact in an occupation, docs have voiced considerations over legalizing the tattoo business.
The Korean Medical Affiliation — the biggest lobbying group for docs — acknowledged in October final 12 months that the act of beauty tattooing entails invading the pores and skin barrier and poses a excessive threat to public well being. As an alternative, the docs’ group instructed options comparable to utilizing tattoo stickers, which supply comparable aesthetics in a much less invasive means.
