Why being a tattoo artist was illegal in South Korea for so long?
About this episode
The episode discusses the historical illegality of tattooing in South Korea and the ongoing stigma surrounding body art in East Asia.
For decades, only licensed doctors were allowed to ink tattoos in South Korea and breaking the law could lead to heavy fines or jail. Now, that law has been overturned, but there’s still a lot of stigma around body art in Korea, and east Asia more generally. Leehyun Choi, our BBC Reporter in Seoul, takes us through why and what is changing in South Korea. Plus, we hear from a Korean tattoo artist in the UK (@doo__tattoo) and a Japanese tattoo artist in Osaka, Japan (@taiki__tattoo) about how they see stigma towards tattoos changing. Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Benita Barden and Lucy Davies Video Producer: Baldeep Chahal Editor: Verity Wilde
People in this episode
Host: Hannah Gelbart
Guests: Doo Tattoo, Taiki Tattoo
Topics covered
- tattoo laws
- South Korea
- body art stigma
- cultural change
- tattoo artists
- East Asia
Keywords
- tattoo artist
- South Korea
- tattoo laws
- body art
- cultural stigma
- East Asia
- tattoo culture
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC
Places: South Korea, Japan, Osaka
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