KOREAN SOCIETIES REJECTION OF ALTERNATIVE BEAUTY

한국 사회는 대체 아름다움의 거부.

KOREAN SOCIETIES REJECTION OF ALTERNATIVE BEAUTY

The following is an investigation into the growing underground tattoo culture of South Korea. 다음은 한국의 성장하는 지하 문신 문화에 대한 조사입니다.

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CONT

TENTS 내용을.

Introduction 1

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Cosmetic

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History

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Social

4

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Legal

of

Beauty

in

South

Tattooing

Rejection Rejection

of of

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in

South

Korea Korea

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8

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14

the

Tattoo

Industry

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22

the

Tattoo

Industry

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5 - A View From Inside the South Korean Tattoo Scene - 38 6 - The Inevitable Rise of the Tattoo Industry in S. Korea - 46 Conclusion Bibliography

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54 -

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소개 The tattoo industry is one of the most critically acclaimed industries of the world, one of which does not seem to be slowing down at any rate. Tattoos are a massive part of the world’s culture, with different styles from many different parts of the world. Celebrities are parading huge collections of tattoos, to millions of fans daily. Even figures of a socially ‘respectable’ status have tattoos and are not afraid to have it on show in the public eye.

In South Korea, just over a decade ago, tattoos were not socially acceptable in the slightest. Therefore, not a single person would openly have a tattoo due to fear of rejection, and in the early 2000s kids would experiment with henna or stick-on tattoos, yet it never went any further than that. Over the last 20 years, a lot has developed and evolved in this 4

INTRODUCTION

개

sense, more and more people of the younger generation are getting tattoos, even though the same negative stigma is still carried by tattoos as well as other alternative body modifications. The older generation of South Korea will often look at people of the younger generation with tattoos in disgust. With Korea’s exponentially growing modern culture, along with the cosmetic beauty industry, the sight of an individual with a tattoo is becoming a less shocking occurrence.

The following is an investigation into the growing underground tattoo culture of South Korea. As well as trying to gauge a reason and meaning behind Korean Societies rejection of alternative beauty and educate those of the older generation with the growth of the tattoo industry and abolish the negative stigma behind tattoos.

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1

COSMETIC BEAUTY IN SOUTH KOREA

한국의 화장품 아름다움.

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Tattoos are part of a very niche market deep within the alternative beauty culture of South Korea. A place that thrives off its beauty markets having one of the fastestgrowing and most technically advanced beauty scenes in the whole world, with massive brands like ‘MoonShot Cosmetics’ selling products by the millions daily. It’s strange to think that tattoos are so frowned upon in Korean society considering how widely gentrified they are across the rest of the world. You would think that they would be more accepted within the massive beauty and fashion culture of South Korea, especially in such diverse areas such as Seoul.

South Korea is known for its state-of-the-art beauty industry, which is estimated to be worth over $21.8 billion within the next 6 years (Driver, 2019). This exponentially growing market is so obsessed over the idea that the perfect image is more important than anything else in society, so much to the point that “South Korean women spend more than twice of their income on make-up and beauty products than American women. While men spend more on beauty products than anyone in the world.” (iD, 2016) With its huge range of beauty companies pushing this ‘ideal’ image, South Korea has become a huge tourist attraction with crowds in the hundreds of thousands flooding the streets of Seoul every day.

Korean society is massively influenced by the K-POP industry, following the light of music superstars and models on the daily. Musicians and groups such as ‘Big Bang’ and ‘Blackpink’ are idolized as if they were gods within the younger generation of South Korea. These musicians are also massive influencers within the beauty industry as they are what cosmetic brands are making out to be the ‘ideal’ image.

YG Entertainment is one of the largest grossing entertainment and retail companies situated in South Korea, known for their massive impact on the music and beauty industry, owning and distributing music through 7 different record labels. This gives them the perfect platform in which to make a product. One of the highest leading brands within YG entertainment is ‘MoonShot Cosmetics’ – which has a massive following within K-POP for beauty and cosmetics alongside brands such as ‘Innisfree’, ‘The Face Shop’, and many more.

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South Korea is widely known as the ‘plastic surgery capital of the world’ (Jacobs and Zheng, 2018), which prides itself on having the highest number of cosmetic procedures per capita worldwide. In South Korea, a majority of girls as young as 13 have has had at least one form of cosmetic surgery done, whether it be Botox, a nose job, or chin reduction surgery, someone has had it done. In Seoul alone, there are over 600 cosmetic surgery clinics (Lee, 2019), all of which offer a whole range of different procedures.

One shocking statistic is that a huge “60% of young women in their 20s have had cosmetic surgery” (iD, 2016). Koreans view plastic surgery as a procedure that is not to give them a ‘normal’ or just ‘pretty’ appearance, yet it is so much more. It is the idea of being ‘above normal’. Koreans are obsessed with the idea of looking perfect, and many people will not stop until they are absolutely satisfied with their appearance, that’s if they ever are completely satisfied.

The cosmetic surgery industry in South Korea is one of the highest-grossing industries in the world, generating above $10- 15 billion per annum (Stevenson, 2018). The importance of physical appearance in South Korea is essentially ridiculous, to the extent where many jobs and businesses require a photo to be attached to applications and résumés, and many people will often get turned down due to the fact they are not ‘pretty’ enough for the job role. This, of course, is where cosmetic surgery poses such a huge impact on society, to the extent where many individuals feel the need to ‘improve’ their appearance in the thought process of this improving their lifestyle and opportunities.

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Furthermore, this is where the idea of having tattoos is so niched within the Korean beauty industry. Tattoos are often viewed by the older generation as making the body imperfect, ruining something that is perceived to be pure. However, the tattoo industry in South Korea is slowly coming to light and weaving its way into Korean society through the same means that beauty has. With more celebrities and influencers having tattoos and parading them throughout their platforms they are therefore influencing younger generations of a new ideal stereotype. Which raises the conflict that “Although in South Korea its socially acceptable for teenagers to have cosmetic surgery, it is illegal to be a tattoo artist” (iD, 2016)

2 HISTORY OF TATTOOING 1 IN SOUTH KOREA

한국의 문신의 역사.

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Tattoo history in South Korea goes back to before the 4th century. A time where fisherman of the coastal regions of South Korea would get tattoos to disperse negative energies and evil spirits (Taylor, 2018). The tattoos engraved into their skin were believed to bring them luck and goodwill on their ventures, protecting them from these negative energies and evil spirits. These views differed massively throughout a period called the “Joseon Dynasty” (13921910), a Korean Dynastic kingdom which lasted approximately five centuries. A period of time that tattoo culture as a whole became negatively significant and stigmatised. During the 19th century, tattoos and tattoo culture became highly appropriated with crime and negative socialism, linking to anti- social individuals of which committed crimes such as theft and adultery. These individuals would be marked with the name of their transgression. Around this period, slaves of this time were also marked with their master’s name, making them property rather than a person. The Korean word for ‘tattoo’ is Munshin. A word that opposes a relatively different meaning than what it represents. Munshin in English translates to “letters engraved on the body” (Park, 2016), much like the names of these masters who engraved their names on slaves or the criminals that have the mark of their misdeed on them. This is relatively symbolic considering the level of almost disrespect that tattoos in this time represented.

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“LETTERS ENGRAVED ON THE BODY”

“MUNSHIN”

문신

Over the duration of the last century, Korea as a whole has changed dramatically within the walls of its nation, over an intensely short period. With the beginning of the 19th century, Korea closed off all foreign relations and became completely secluded to the rest of the world. This was until 1876 when the Treaty of Kanghwa with Japan was created, “ultimately starting the rise of Japanese Imperialism over Korea” (Seth, 2009). However, Japan’s rule over Korea only lasted a short 35 years, ending with the surrender of Japan at the end of World War 2. In the following days after World War 2, the nation was completely split into two, this being due to the strong tensions of the Cold War. A subjective line was drawn at the 38th parallel, dividing the nation’s occupation to the communist Soviet and the American forces.

The Southern economy was massively devastated by the loss of imports from Japan, which they relied heavily upon. As well as struggling to survive on the aid from the US, which amounted to around $116 million within just one year (Seth, 2009). Following this, on the 25th June 1950, came the Korean War, which turned the nation against itself, splitting the north and south into an aggressive disagreement, eventually evolving into an international conflict. In the eventual impasse of the war, a ceasefire was agreed upon that laid at the 38th parallel boundary. Disregarding the armistice, the boundary and the war are still intact to this date.

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Following the Korean War coming to a rest, South Korea became one of the world’s poorest countries with only $64 per capita income (Tran, 2011). Over this period, the US provided aid in economic, military and government areas. This played an immense role in the development of Korea, including $200 million in aid each year (Seth, 2009). Through this, South Korea was still in an state of disrepair when recovering from the war, with an authoritarian ruled government. This was until 1960 when the government was overthrown and controlled by the regime of Park Chung Hee. Park’s leadership led to a gradual and steady rise in the nation’s economy and military.

Following the assassination of Park, in 1979 (Seth, 2009), developed a desire for an independent economy from the rest of the world. Although South Korea still heavily relied on aid from the US, this aid moved from military and government aid to trade based support, allowing the Korean economy to grow more naturally (Seth, 2009). Over the 20th century, following the economic growth and industrialisation of the new democratic South Korean government, cities such as Seoul have grown into being one of the world’s largest cities from the small and unknown capital of South Korea.

Over 45 years, between 1945 and 1990, the population of Seoul has increased from just 900,000 people to over 10 million (Brodsky, 2017). Seoul underwent intense suburbanisation, which has now evolved into probably the fastest evolving urban region in terms of modernisation and as stated previously is now home to the fastest growing and most technically advanced beauty scenes in the world.

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With the divide of Korea’s nation, the north and the south now follow similar, yet also differed views on tattoos and the tattoo industry. In South Korea, tattooing became heavily associated with criminal activity and anti-social individuals such as gang members. This negative stigma is carried so widely, that people of the older generation are generally disgusted by the sight of anyone with tattoos, as when the war finished, tattoos disappeared along with those lost in the war. However, due to law, the only way that one can get a tattoo in South Korea is by being tattooed by a trained medical professional. It is illegal in South Korea to be a tattooist without a medical license. Yet in North Korea, the same views stand with tattoos, however, with more lenience. In North Korea, although some tattoos are allowed within the country, they are subject to very strict rules and regulations. If a tattoo is to be visible on the body, such as on an arm or leg, somewhere that is often exposed, the tattoo must show praise to the Kim – or leaders – family or have a form of approved political purpose attributed to them (Hunter, 2017). If a citizen of North Korea has a visible tattoo that doesn’t show a positive portrayal of this kind, that citizen can be subject to arrest for indecency.

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3 SOCIAL REJECTION OF THE TATTOO INDUSTRY

문신 산업의 사회적 거부.

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Coming around to the 20th century and present, tattoos and body modification are still negatively viewed due to their links within gangs and criminal affairs. Tattoos are used in this sense to identify and signal their family or allegiances.

Over the past century, this negative stigma has carried through the generations and it is only now that the industry is being gentrified.

Although this movement is only in its earliest stages, and the older generation is still very narrow-minded about the culture, some to the extent where they are disgusted by the sight of someone with tattoos or body modifications.

Korean society is also very strict on the allowance on tattoos, though it’s not illegal to have a tattoo, many places are very strict with what those with tattoos can and cannot do.

For example, many schools forbid their students from getting tattoos as a whole with the risk of expulsion, and young men with multiple or large tattoos are often refused from Koreans mandatory military service (Choe, 2003).

The older generation of South Korea has a very narrow-minded outlook on the alternative beauty scene, with families going to the extent of disowning their fellow family members just for having a tattoo. This all branches from the idea that tattoos are used as an image of negativity and the last thing they want to do is to ruin their family name by having a relation to someone of this appearance. In an iD interview between Grace Neutral (tattoo artist – London) and a citizen of South Korea, this male stated that his parents’ reaction to him having tattoos was “they hate me, you’re not my son! You’re not my son! Why have you done this?” (iD, 2016) Unfortunately, this reaction is not alienated to those who consider themselves as part of the tattoo industry in South Korea. It is also stated that “the adults or older people – when they see someone with tattoos they look with contempt as if we are up to something bad” (iD, 2016).

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Over the past decade or so there has been an increasing conflict between the older and younger generation regarding alternative beauty, taking not only tattoos into perspective but also piercings and other body modifications, even down to small factors like somebody shaving their head. This all comes down to the conflict between traditional values of Confucianism and modernised western influences on globalisation. Ancient Korea was strongly brought up on the ideologies of Confucianism as its prioritised governing factor (Brodsky, 2017). Confucianism is an ancient belief, originating from China, that focusses strongly on personal ethics and morality. For Korea, having a Confucianism government in place, it meant for them that the nation was to be in complete harmony and prosperity, living in isolation from surrounding nations and the rest of the world.

After Japanese Imperialism took over Korea was forced into a state of coercion, which forced them out of the traditional state they wished to remain the same (Brodsky, 2017).

Moving forward to the present day, over only the last generation, Korea has changed completely, into a whole new society of blended communities. With tourists coming from all over, introducing new cultures and subcultures, including the tattoo industry to an ever-growing community. Alternatively, this does not necessarily mean that everything introduced is as widely accepted.

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Not only is the older generation having a negative impact on the tattoo industry in Korea, but it is the negative stigma that is carried throughout the image of having tattoos, which is why so many people are trying to normalise and gentrify tattoos within these societies. The negative stigma that is carried within the tattoo industry mainly has links to the likes of anti-social individuals who violate social norms and values, these being criminals or gangsters. This is due to these kinds of people having tattoos for many generations before the current. The reason that people look at the tattoo society like this is that it has always been this way, however, this is not the case anymore, tattoos are becoming much more widely accepted all around the world, leading to more and more people getting them.

Which makes this a time for education and normalisation.

It was only September 25th, 2020 when being a tattooist without medical licensing became legal in Japan (Jiji, 2020), so with any luck, the next few years are looking relatively bright for Asian tattoo culture as a whole.

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Those that have tattoos within the province of South Korea face discrimination daily due to their appearance, it isn’t uncommon that someone would get rejected at a job interview for having tattoos. Public spas are an incredibly popular local attraction in South Korea, these are places of luxury, where individuals will often spend from just a couple hours to a few days resting in these facilities, however for those with tattoos it is not the same at all. In public places such as these, where people will be dressed down, in shorts and a t-shirt, often topless, people with tattoos or body modifications will most likely get refused entry from these places because their appearance can come off offensive to other customers, and even push custom away from the facilities.

In the case of someone with tattoos not being refused entry from these places, there is an even higher chance of them being asked, if not forced to cover up their tattoos, enforcing that they have to wear a long coat or gown to hide their tattoos, and even bathe in separate rooms from the other customers that go to these places (iD, 2016), all just because of their appearance.

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4 LEGAL REJECTION OF THE TATTOO INDUSTRY

문신 산업의 법적 거부.

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Not only are tattoos frowned upon within society, but it is also illegal to be a tattoo artist without a medical licence.

However, it is not to have tattoos, which is why tattooing is such a niche market. Day by day more people are becoming part of the tattoo culture, yet in South Korea, it is much harder to be exposed to a decent tattooist who practices legally within Korean Society. But this raises the question of – who is going choose to be a tattoo artist with the ability to be a doctor? At this point, It would seem not to be worth it. This, of course, leads to a massive society of extremely talented artists working underground, out of the government eye, with an estimated 20,000 illegal tattoo artists working day in day out to fuel the tattoo scene in South Korea (Flores,

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2020).

Unfortunately, the negative social stigma and legality of being a tattooist have made it increasingly hard for a tattooist in South Korea to run their business, forcing them underground, working in the shadows of legal authority.

An interesting factor is that according to tattoo artist Apro Lee, many tattooist’s struggle with authorities on the daily. (iD, 2016) Lee has an incredible collection of tattoos himself, with a striking centrepiece tattoo of a noose around his neck.

Within the underground tattoo industry of South Korea, according to Lee, it is tradition to have a noose tattoo somewhere on one’s body as a symbolism of their profession. The noose tattoo states that essentially, they’re working as a criminal, that their job is that of a death wish.

“Tattooing is a medical act that could pose a danger to the human body if it’s allowed for non- medical personnel.”

- An official from the Korean Medical Association (KMA) (Williams, 2017). In the eyes of the Korean government, tattooing is seen to be subject to medical conditions, which in a sense is completely understandable to a certain extent Tattooing consists of medical- grade attention, taking high alert and care in the sterility of equipment, ensuring that everything is done at the highest standard to reduce risk of infection and providing a high-quality tattoo. Tattooing is the art of inserting ink pigment into punctures in the skin, which to be done, can only be performed by a high-speed rotating, or vibrating, needle piercing the skin to apply ink pigment to deeper skin cells within the flesh of a person. Those who tattoo are required to undergo considerable training before even tattooing somebodies’ skin, practicing on fake skin, pig’s skin, even oranges until their peers deem them prepared to practice on a client. Some tattooists go through apprenticeships resulting in them being extensively trained, for as little as a couple of months up to a considerable number of years before they even tattoo their first client.

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Taking into consideration the extensive amount of training one would have to go through to become a tattooist, there is reasoning behind this. With this reason being exactly why there are laws in place in certain areas around the world such as South Korea. However, the training one undergoes to become a tattooist, to the Korean Medical Association is not exactly advanced enough to tattoo someone.

In the eyes of the KMA, one must undergo extensive medical training, taking up to 10 years within medical schools, learning to be a doctor before they can inject ink into the skin of a client. Yet once spending this amount of time in medical schools, training to practice as a doctor, becoming a tattooist seems relatively unworthy of the time spent studying for it in this sense. Taking into consideration income differences being a tattooist compared to being a doctor, the annual income would only be a fraction of what you would be making compared to working in a medical environment. As a whole, this is why there is now a movement trying to legalise tattooing without a medical licence.

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There is a large demand to legalise tattooing in South Korea, and that is slowly coming to light within the community.

Even officials within the Korean Medical Association that are fighting for the legalisation of tattooing without a medical licence. A large movement led by the Korea Tattoo Artist Association (KTAA) is fighting for their cause to make their profession and living no longer a crime.

Tattooing in Korea is considered medical malpractice that is punishable by a lengthy jail sentence. In 2015 there was a campaign in which said that tattooing was going to be legalised to help tattooists become legitimised and hold a stable job without risk of arrest (Williams, 2017).

Expanding upon this nothing has been done to further these statements. There was an incident in on 17th July 2017 that brought this statement to a complete standstill, a woman was arrested on account of tattooing over 120 people, charging a range between 100,000 won and 1.9 million won ($89-$1590) (Si-soo, 2017). When this occurred, it forced many more illegal artists to have to be more discreet with their businesses due to an exponentially increased risk of being arrested for their profession.

Due to this incident in 2017, there has been a halt in the progression in legalising tattoos, which has been devastating for tattooists in South Korea. Since this they have been forced further underground, working with only arranged clientele, and out of the government eye. Considering this, the tattoo industry is not as far out of the public eye in South Korea as it was around 10 years ago.

This is due to celebrities beginning to parade their tattoo collections, and people of the younger generation within the fashion and beauty industry of South Korea becoming more and more interested in getting tattoos.

5 A VIEW FROM INSIDE THE SOUTH KOREAN TATTOO SCENE

한국의 문신 장면 내부에서 보기.

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The tattoo industry of South Korea can look bizarre to someone from outside of the nation. Considering tattoos are one of the largest booming industries at the moment in the United Kingdom. Yet a view from within the industry in South Korea could be completely different to how someone from the outside world would view it. In a primary research interview, Korean tattooist Krystal (@krystal_tattooer – Instagram) gave an insightful response as to what life is like working underground, as an illegal tattoo artist.

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Korean societies understanding of tattoo culture is relatively tunnel-visioned, the citizens of this province aren’t alienated to completely discriminating those within the tattoo industry. “I think Korea has a short culture and understanding of tattoos.” (Krystal, 2020) stated Krystal, evidently the people of Korea are relatively stubborn when it comes to their views on tattooing. Regarding Korean culture and traditional values, it limits people to be more open to these new, obscure and alternative lifestyle choices. Which, as a whole is unfortunate considering the tattoo industry in South Korea is “more progressive than any other country” (Krystal, 2020). Considering the inevitable growth of the tattoo industry in South Korea, its relatively shocking that legality is still far from being on the table. Following this, it’s obvious that being a tattooist in South Korea isn’t necessarily the easiest of jobs considering the stigma surrounding it and trying to work out of government eye, whilst trying to fight for the legality of their profession.

Current laws regarding tattooing in South Korea are affecting different tattooists almost daily.

According to Krystal, “sometimes people who abuse these laws are even harmed” (Krystal, 2020). This statement shows that being forced underground, whilst an annoyance, is also necessary due to the risk of being harmed or arrested by authorities in South Korea. There have also been many instances where tattooists working out of government eye have been forced to move their business due to the risk of being arrested or threatened by the law. Krystal revealed that the studio that she worked at was subject to this threat. She states “there was no threat to the extent that the workplace was to be relocated due to a bad incident, however, there was a small clash. But I have seen another tattooist go through it.”

(Krystal, 2020) Though Krystal wasn’t forced to move her place of work as a whole, this still shows that tattooists working in these conditions are subject to discrimination on a regular basis.

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“Sometimes who abuse are even

people these laws harmed”

However, it is not only authorities that underground tattooists in South Korea have to be worried about.

“There are tattooists that are medically trained that discriminate tattooists and do incorrect tattooing.” Krystal stated. Considering full medical training can take up to 5 years to obtain a medical license, for one to go through this amount of training, and become a tattoo artist at the end of it, discrimination against fellow artists, legal or not as a whole seems quite ridiculous. So, for a fully trained tattooist, without a medical license, getting discriminated by someone that does have a medical license, doing the same job must be incredibly infuriating. Especially for a tattooist with more experience and skill than someone that has a medical license, but considerably less experience with a tattoo machine. At this point, it almost seems laughable, but the discrimination still stands there regardless.

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When becoming a tattoo artist, Krystal faced struggles within her family life as do many other individuals that take the same route of employment.

Krystal stated that upon becoming a tattooist “my parents opposed it. Though after enough persuasion, I was able to continue with my work, however, there were frequent clashes.” (Krystal, 2020).

There is a clear constant battle with those of the older generation when it comes to going into something that is seen to them as not a real, yet disrespectful profession. Krystal also had this type of reaction from her elders when they first saw her personal collection of tattoos. “My mother was worried about me getting married, and even now she doesn’t want me to do it.” (Krystal, 2020). Tattoos pose quite an impact on the traditional view of purity in oneself and having them will affect how elders would view one on days as important as their wedding day. Even to the extent where some parents of an individual with tattoos would refuse to attend their child’s wedding – This being a key reason as to why many people within the tattoo subculture of South Korea feel the need to hide their tattoos from elders.

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THE INEVITABLE RISE OF THE TATTOO INDUSTRY IN SOUTH KOREA

한국의 문신 산업의 불가 피한 상승.

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Considering the restrictions in place that are minimizing the tattoo scene immensely, tattoos themselves are becoming a lot more popular in Korean society. This is due to many KPOP artists and A-list Korean celebrities getting more and more tattoos, therefore bringing light to the tattoo industry as a whole.

The only drawback with this is that of the older generation in South Korea being overly forward about purity and cleanliness to the point in which they believe that tattoos ruin the natural beauty of the younger generation.

This being as these are the children and grandchildren of those that have these strong views and idealised standards. These different beliefs have led to major divisions between generations and their outlooks.

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Although the tattoo industry is being brought to light by celebrities and KPOP stars, it is unfortunate that due to the past negative stigma around tattoos, stars that have these tattoos are still having their modifications blurred out on television due to their ‘offensive nature’ alongside weapons and cigarettes. Yet this is clearly a step that needs to be taken to make tattoos more widely accepted, social media in other forms are exposing tattoos and body modifications of these stars to the public far more than television is doing. KPOP star Jay Park is a huge Korean musician and public figure, parading a huge collection of tattoos, when yes, his tattoos do get blurred out on traditional television, he also has a following of over 4.4 million people around the world, on social media, and his tattoos are most definitely not hidden from the public eye. With big public figures like this, proudly parading their tattoos on social media and other media, it is fair to say that tattoos are slowly becoming more widely accepted and will continue to have this effect.

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“The people essentially the of youth

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South Korea is a very diverse province, different areas have drastically different views on certain things. Seoul, South Korea is an area that as a whole is more accepting of the growing tattoo culture. This is an area with a much younger demographic, caring far more for fashion, beauty and being completely alternative from the rest of the nation, than being concerned of a senior figure’s opinion. Seoul is viewed as a safe space for many people that present a form of alternative beauty, especially with places like Mystik, a club that unfortunately closed down in 2017 (Webb, 2017).

An underground club with a capacity of only 150 people, this was a place where those with tattoos and body modifications could go and not be discriminated against because of their appearance or life choices. Places like these unite those that stand against the social norm. The people that would gather here would all have different backgrounds, different stories to tell, but would all be there for the same reason – because here they felt comfortable in their own skin.

The people of Seoul are essentially the embodiment of youth rebellion. (iD, 2016)

of Seoul are e embodiment rebellion.”

With the high demand to eventually legalise tattooing within the tattoo industry of South Korea and the KTAA, there is a massive push to bring tattoos to the public eye in a more respectable name, and day by day more people of the younger generation are getting tattoos and becoming part of the industry themselves. Tattooing is both physical and social, some people use tattoos as a sign of resistance to the culture that confines the body to its natural form (Fisher, 2002), such as those rebelling against the views their elders taught them. Whereas other, less intimidating tattoos, are simply a way of self-expression. Not all people get tattoos to go against what their elders believe in, of course, some individuals do, but these are minimal compared to those that are using body art as a form of expression.

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CONCLUSION

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결 론.

outh Korea is a fast-evolving nation with a rapidly growing cosmetic beauty scene and highly advanced technology industry, becoming the standing point for the evergrowing popularity for tourists and traders. With more tourists visiting its booming cities, such as Seoul for huge events like Seoul Fashion Week that takes place every October, bringing thousands of tourists and celebrities to the nation every year. With Seoul and South Korea as a whole on an exponential uprise within tourist culture, an increasingly diverse selection of people visit every year.

South Korea is becoming subject to many different cultures and personalities. With new cultures all making their way to South Korea, it is fair to say that many different things are going to eventually become more acceptable within Korean society. Although to get to this point supporters of, and people involved within the tattoo culture of South Korea need to band together to create a larger sense of hope in the eventual legalisation of tattooing without a medical license.

Tradition lies deeply rooted within Korean society; heavily prioritising the social respect for the older generation above anything else. However, over the last generation, Korea as a society has become and is still becoming very modernised, taking its lead within the technology industries with countries such as Japan and China (Radu, 2019). This rapid modernisation of society is creating large differences between the generations and their ways of life. The younger generation of today is growing up with much more freedom for self-expression – something which people of older generations were deprived of in their youth. With tradition becoming something of a background ideology, globalisation and exponential gentrification of alternative style and belief grow within the younger generations of South Korea.

The inevitable rise of tattoo culture within South Korea has become that of a movement in itself. Whether that movement is a way of showing individuality from traditional values and the views of elders or bringing light to the growing popularity of tattoos from all around the world. Influenced by the endowment of cultures outside of Korea, the tattoo culture is evidently becoming more acceptable within the society of South Korea. This movement and gentrification of the tattoo subculture are proving a great impact and an overall rise against Korean societies rejection of alternative beauty.

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참고 문헌.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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