Tattoos are illegal in Seoul. Rather, a pesky law technically forbids anyone without a medical license from wielding the needles required to craft them. Among polite Korean society, a shock of ink has long been viewed with open disdain, a sign that its bearer was up to no good. Yet the underground body art scene has been quietly gathering steam here, erupting on the Seoul Fashion Week runways this month as the season’s ruling trend—a powerful assertion for individuality that expands the country’s narrow beauty standards.
Everywhere you looked, there were models boldly revealing their etchings—a subtle flash of cursive script along the neck, or a kaleidoscopic canvas of leaves and blooms unfurling across the chest. “One of my forearms is Kate Moss,” Noma Han told me, pointing to a vivid portrait of the supermodel which shared bodily real estate with a Banksy and Totoro; on his back, a traditional Korean dance unfolded. The 26-year-old, who moonlights as a tattoo artist at Black Fish parlor in New York City, first drew eyes as one of the country’s only inked models eight years ago. “Back then, I was this rebel, this bad-kid Asian boy,” he said, laughing at the memory. “Now, they’re more open to tattoos in Korea—and everywhere, really.”
It ties into the celebration of personality that has swept fashion this past year, but these changing attitudes strike a deeper chord in South Korea, which has largely been defined by its uniform, trend-obsessed way of life. Watching Hye Seung Lee splay her charm-dotted fingers for the camera, or Sung Jin Park graze the curling buta beneath his ear, anyone would find beauty. “I have to say I’m happy,” Han adds, of the local tattoo movement. “People have opened their minds.” A fine thing.
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