Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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.
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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.
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Tattoos in Korean culture
01:44 The law change explained
02:35 Working as an underground tattoo artist
03:48 Why tattooing was restricted for decades
04:15 Tattoos, gangs and historical stigma
5:35 A tattoo artist in Japan
06:07 Tattoo artists in South Korea react to decriminalisation
06:57 A Korean tattoo artist gives her thoughts
07:59 Uncertainty around the rules
08:54 Will more people get tattoos now?
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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
----------------
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#BBCWorldService #WorldService #southkorea #tattoo #tattooartist
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.
Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 bbc.in/3VyyriM
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.
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Tattoos in Korean culture
01:44 The law change explained
02:35 Working as an underground tattoo artist
03:48 Why tattooing was restricted for decades
04:15 Tattoos, gangs and historical stigma
5:35 A tattoo artist in Japan
06:07 Tattoo artists in South Korea react to decriminalisation
06:57 A Korean tattoo artist gives her thoughts
07:59 Uncertainty around the rules
08:54 Will more people get tattoos now?
Watch more episodes from What in the World here 👉🏽 youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4eMOlGZclzdcHmv7s8BFQE6
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
----------------
This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel.
If you like what we do, you can also find us here:
Instagram 👉🏽 instagram.com/bbcworldservice
Twitter 👉🏽 twitter.com/bbcworldservice
Facebook 👉🏽 facebook.com/bbcworldservice
BBC World Service website 👉🏽 bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
#BBCWorldService #WorldService #southkorea #tattoo #tattooartist
