When Kim Chan-hoe goes to work, he locks the door and checks the security cameras to make sure no police are hanging around. He doesn’t list his full-time job when applying for bank loans, knowing they’d reject him immediately. He says he’s been reported to police so many times, and forced to pay hefty fines, that the officers recognize him now.
That’s because Kim is a tattoo artist — a profession that has been illegal for decades in South Korea, despite growing rapidly in popularity.
“When I walk into a police station or a government office, they don’t see me as a skilled tattoo artist — they see me as nothing more than a criminal with tattoo equipment,” said Kim, who has been tattooing for 17 years and owns Red Waikiki studio in Seoul.
That may change soon as the country’s parliament prepares to vote on a groundbreaking bill that would legalize tattooing — which only medical professionals are currently allowed to do.
It’s been a long battle to get here, with similar bills failing to pass in years past. But this time around, artists are more hopeful — the bill has cleared several hurdles already, and now just needs to be approved in the National Assembly, the country’s legislature. The recently elected President Lee Jae Myung, the final approver in signing a bill into law, had even promised during a previous run for presidency to legalize the industry.
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