South Korea has officially taken a big step towards ending its decade long ban on tattooing by non-medical professionals.
Primarily a new bill has been approved by a parliamentary committee, which marks a crucial step making this practice a legal profession.
However, this new decision could pave the way for thousands of underground tourists in South Korea. They can now work legally after years of working in secrecy under the prospect of being taken into custody.
The proposed Tattooist Act sets up a licensing system that will be supervised by the country’s ministry of health and welfare.
For that purpose, tattooists would be required to pass a national exam complying with strict hygiene standards and participate in an insurance program to cover potential threats.
Additionally, the law further suggests that infants would still need parental consent to get tattoos, and subsequently artists would be only allowed to operate in registered shops.
The bill further suggests establishing strict rules, allowing the use of approved anesthetics and prohibiting the laser treatments to combat unsafe and unregulated procedures in private studios.
According to the National Evidence based Healthcare Collaborative Agency, approximately 10 million individuals who have had semi-permanently cosmetic treatments such as eyebrow tattoos, and 3 million of them opted for body art.
The tattoo industry has provided jobs to more than 300,000 workers.
In addition, the Democratic Party of Korea representative Park Joo-Min said, “For years, the law punished tourists simply because they were not medical professionals. There is no reason to delay this legislation any longer.”
According to the Park Joo-Min, the group had spent more than 10 years working to break down the social and legal hurdles tattoo artists have been facing.
The president of the Korea Tattoo Foundation, Im Bo-ran said, “Now that we’ve taken the first step, we will continue to push for the remaining stages of approval with a unified voice.”