Getting An “Illegal” Tattoo in Korea | How to Guide & Experience
Yes, my best friend and I got matching tattoos in South Korea because we are just the right amount of crazy.
Just a month has passed since getting my “illegal” tattoo in South Korea. Everyday I catch a glimpse of it from the corner of my eye and am still awe-stuck that such a masterfully crafted piece of artwork adorns my skin and will for as long as I live.
The fine lines and detailing are like nothing I had ever seen before. What’s more is that the very same piece of art also graces the skin of my best friend Erica on the other side of the Earth.
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We’ve talked about getting matching tattoos over the years of our friendship, but the possibility finally presented itself during the weekend prior to Erica’s move across the world. As we discussed our love of Harry Potter and how we have come to embrace our placement in Slytheryn, we decided that we should get matching snake tattoos. Beautiful, elegant, and feminine snakes that represented us.
Immediately, I decided that I would contact some of the skilled tattoo artists in Seoul that I followed religiously on Instagram about the possibility of making this dream a reality during my visit to South Korea in a few months. We decided to include a flower for the snake to wrap itself around, adding to the elegance and femininity: the Stock flower, which was Erica’s favorite flower and which represents friendship. Not only would this tattoo convey the message of friendship we originally intended though the snake and flower, but it would also carry the memory of our times in South Korea and our adventure to get illegal tattoos together. Below I will share my detailed guide and experience on getting an “illegal” tattoo in Korea.
Photos courtesy of Alicia Magnuson Photography
Background
In Korea, you are only legally allowed to be a tattoo artist if you are a trained medical doctor. How many people do you think put in all of the hard work to become a licensed doctor, to then become a tattoo artist? Not many. Not to mention the fact that it takes artistic talent to become a successful tattoo artist. This has caused a huge underground tattoo scene to flourish in South Korea, especially in Seoul. Extremely talented artists are forced to practice in secrecy to avoid persecution. With such immense skill being displayed, these underground tattoos are on the rise despite being “illegal”. While some of the younger generations of Korea are just beginning to explore tattoo body art, the vast majority of Korean culture still views tattoos as taboo, gang symbols, and enough to “ruin” someone. The only people in South Korea with tattoos seem to be artistic types, gangsters, and foreigners.
Contacting Artists
Before you can contact any tattoo artists, you’ve first got to find the ones you want to contact! This is the easiest part. Google “tattoo artists in Seoul” or “best tattoo artists in Korea” and you will be greeted by pages of articles and spotlights about different talented artists. From there, you will be led to their Instagram profiles. This seems to be the the place where most Korean artists represent themselves and provide their contact information. It can prove difficult to narrow down the pool of artists you want to contact, as the wealth of talent and skill is mind-blowing. An artist with the skill level of many of these underground artists would be revered to the level of Dr.Woo in the United States! Here are a few of the artists that caught my eye in particular, a number of which I contacted myself:
Nando Tattoo (the artist who did my tattoo!)
Tattooist Grain
ilwolhongdam
Tattooist Banul
Sol Tattoo
Tattooist Doy
After you’ve narrowed down the selection of artists that you would gladly allow to brand your skin, it’s time to start contacting them. The vast majority of artists display their contact information in their Instagram bio. Some will even state whether they are currently accepting appointments or not. Some will have a Line ID or an email address. The most common means of contact provided will be their “KaKaoTalk ID”. KaKaoTalk is a wildly popular messaging app in South Korea that allows you to message other users via wifi. Simply download the app, create an account, and set up your profile. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but simply show that you’re a real person. This should take all of 5 minutes.
KaKaoTalk
Website
Apple App Store
Google Play Store
Now, from the homepage of KaKaoTalk click the Find tab (a little magnifying glass icon) from the top menu bar. From this page, select the new Find tab from the menu bar below the original top menu (a little address book icon). Here you can search users by their IDs and add them. So, type in the ID of the artist that you want to try to set up an appointment with, add them, and then you will be free to message them. Don’t worry, most Koreans are proficient in English.
Set up an Appointment
You should begin contacting artists to try and schedule an appointment months in advance! Especially if you are pursuing a popular artist. I began reaching out to artists in February in preparation for my visit in May, and some of the artists I spoke with were already booked. To be fair, I had a very short window that I would be available in Korea for this trip (May 5th – 7th) which didn’t help matters. But this is why it doesn’t hurt to contact a few different artists. Some were booked, some never replied, and only a couple actually responded with availabilities. I was extremely lucky (#blessed, as they say) that the profoundly talented Nando Tattoo was one of the artists that was somehow available.
In your initial message to an artist, state when you are available for an appointment and a loose description of what you had in mind for the tattoo. They might have a time available on a certain day, but if you want a large piece done they may not have a long enough opening in their schedule. In my case, I needed enough time for matching tattoos. It may take some time to hear back from them. I started getting replies back randomly over the course of the next week. Once you do hear back and are lucky enough to fit into an artist’s schedule, they will want details of exactly what you’re looking for, from the size, coloring, style, and placement. They will probably want you to send them picture examples of tattoos with the style or look that you want to achieve to help them visualize their design. All of this information will help determine the price.
I hesitate to tell you how much my tattoo cost because prices will vary greatly between artists, styles, level of detail, size, coloring, etc of each tattoo. Artists are also free to increase their prices as they gain popularity, as they should. But I want to give you a general idea. For my tattoo I paid around 600,000 won plus a 20% tip, which in total was about $700 USD. Erica paid the same for hers. We really didn’t know if tip was expected, but the artist more than earned it and we wanted to show our appreciation for his time and amazing talent.
Note: You can ask your artist to be sure, but they will require you to bring cash only! Remember the service they are providing you is illegal. And by cash I mean Korean Won. So plan ahead by getting the complete amount including tip converted from your currency to Korean Won at your bank before your trip. Otherwise, you can convert the money at the airport upon arrival but there will be a hefty fee.
Finally, you can get the exact details for “the big day”. Where you are to be at what time on the day that you previously agreed upon. It seems common for artists to only provide a train station to meet at at a certain time. After all, they must maintain secrecy about their exact location.
The Day Of
The day is finally here! Make sure to have your cash ready and in a safe place on your person. One thing I wish I had brought was water since we were there for hours. You shouldn’t drink alcohol or caffeine before the appointment because they are blood thinners. If you’ve been messaging the artist using KaKaoTalk and don’t have international data to use in Korea – keep this in mind. Erica and I didn’t think about this until we were at the station waiting for further direction. Luckily, there was a cafe beside the station where we grabbed coffee and connected to wifi to receive the directions from the artist. This is an example why is doesn’t hurt to be early to your meeting place! You just never know what might come up and timeliness is extremely important in Korean culture.
When the time of your appointment hits and you can confirm you’re at the chosen meeting place, the artist will provide further instruction to reach their studio from there. It is literally like “Go two blocks this way, then there will be this building. Across from there, look for the building painted this color. Go into the backdoor and up the stairs to the third floor. Knock and wait outside the door.” I literally felt like I was in a movie or something. But no matter how exciting it is, please remember to be discreet! This should go without saying. The artist is putting a great deal of trust in you by confiding how to reach their studio.
Getting it Done: My Experience
The door opened and we were greeted by the artist, who I will call Nando. He was dressed in a black suit and tie, hair slicked to the side, radiating “cool”. The studio itself was like a picture from Highsnobiety – wood floors, artfully placed designer furniture, edgey mannequins, sculptures, and art, and even a full-sized model skeleton. Nando presented his sketch based on our request of a snake wrapping a Stock flower. It was truly a masterpiece – sketched in pencil by hand, smooth and flowing. We told him that we loved it. We then took a seat on a modern leather love seat by the entrance. The glass coffee table before us held a neatly stacked pile of well-designed books on tattoo art. Playing on the floor, a small grey kitten captivated us while we waited for Nando to print various sizes of his tattoo sketch.
Nando then motioned for us to come over to a stool facing a mirror. He let us model the different size tattoo prints on our arms. After choosing the size and exact placement of the tattoo, he transferred the sketch onto our skin. We decided who would go first. I volunteered because I could feel my anxiety growing and I knew I needed to get it over with. Nando led Erica and I into a separate room with a long bed-table, like the one’s at the doctor’s office, for me to lie on. Beside it was a table with the tattoo gun and ink and a stool for Nando. This room was as equally well-decorated and hipster as the main room. The walls were covered in a mix of eccentric and retro photos and artwork. On one wall, tattooing tools and inks were displayed. A messy wooden desk sat in one corner – I could imagine Nando sitting here on late nights sketching his next clients’ tattoos.
I laid down and Nando got to work on my arm. Erica pulled up a stool beside me and we chatted on and off throughout the process. It hurt less than I imagined it would. Near the center of my arm, I could barely feel the prick of the needle. Closer to the edges of my arm however, the needle stung like the claws of a cat dragging along my skin. I gritted my teeth and tried to continue conversing with Erica in order to keep my mind off the pain. Nando said very little, focused on his work. He did take a couple small breaks lasting a few minutes at a time. The entire process took about 3 hours. When he finished, he wiped the tattoo clean, took a short break, and got right to work on Erica. Hers went by much quicker, only lasting about an hour and a half. Nando only took one small break, powering through the tattoo as it grew dark outside. Erica’s tattoo turned out exactly the same as mine but shaded a bit darker. So he actually did more work on hers in less time than it took to do mine. Very impressive!
After both of our tattoos were complete, he posed each of us in different chic corners of his studio to take pictures of his masterpieces. We had been keeping our eye out to see if he might post one of these shots on his Instagram and, what do you know, the day that I filmed the video for this post he uploaded one of the photos! Talk about fate. Here is the photo from Nando Tattoo’s Instagram:
Once he had taken the pictures he wanted to, Nando put clear bandages on each tattoo and took us back to the leather loveseat to discuss aftercare for our new branded works of art. He had a printed sheet in English with all of the information we needed and he went over each point with us to ensure we understood. We thanked him repeatedly for our beautiful tattoos (we were in awe), shook hands, and handed him an envelope with our combined cash payment within. He politely showed us to the door, thanked us in return, and we were on our way. That was the end of our wild adventure getting illegal matching tattoos in Korea.
Aftercare
You just got an extraordinary tattoo done by a skilled artist. It probably cost you a pretty penny, and it’s going to decorate your skin for the rest of your life – so don’t you want to take proper care of it? By taking measures to protect and care for your tattoo, you can ensure that it will last. When our artist went over aftercare instructions with Erica and I after completing our tattoos, we were lucky enough to receive a small sheet with all of his points printed on it. Now I can share it with you!
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“I will explain to you how to look after your tattoo. Starting today, no drinking for 3 days and 2 weeks of looking after is needed. For 2 weeks, always maintain the tattoo moisturized with thin application of Vaseline. 3 to 5 times a day. Only when taking a shower, the application should be thick and let the water run over it. Exercising with sweat and making heat is not good. Please no working out, no tanning. The band-aid I put can be taken off tomorrow after shower. From then, please apply Vaseline. It is okay to take shower today.”
This wasn’t a part of the artist’s care instructions, but I’d like to add an important long-term care tip: Sunscreen! Literally, sunscreen is so important for the longevity of your tattoo. UV rays are harmful and damaging to your tattoos in the same way that they are harmful to your skin. You will thank yourself in the long run for consistently applying sunscreen when your tattoo isn’t severely faded and your skin is undamaged. I use an everyday lotion by the Korean brand COSRX called Aloe Soothing Sun Cream that contains SPF 50+. It’s light and soaks right into your skin like lotion. But use whatever sunscreen works best for you!
Trust
Finally, I just want to repeat what I’ve said throughout this post about trust. When you make an appointment with one of these underground tattoo artists, the artist is putting a lot of trust in you to be discreet, to not give any information about them or their location away, and so on. It really goes without saying, but as someone from the United States where this practice is totally legal it can be easy to forget. Take care of your tattoo and be grateful that the artist put themselves on the line to share their talent with you. The entire experience makes for one hell of an amazing story and the ultimate souvenir! Since returning to the States, I have constantly received compliments from people who are in awe that it is a real tattoo with such fine line quality and detail.
A special thank you to the extremely talented and generous Alicia Magnuson Photography for the stunning photos of my new tattoo (as shown above!) and for helping me take some video shots. Alicia is a dear friend of mine and I highly recommend her for any of your photo needs. Like me, Alicia also loves travel and adventure and captures these moments with her unparalleled photography skills on her Instagram. Check it out: Alicia’s Instagram. Also check out her official photography website: Alicia Magnuson Photography.
Another big thank you to my friend Erica for showing me the wonders of Korea during my short visit. I can’t wait to return for a longer stay in a few short months. Catch up with her life in South Korea on Erica’s Instagram. If you’re interested in hearing more about my recent visit with Erica in South Korea, check out the blog posts from the trip: Visiting Erica in South Korea and 10 Things To Do in Seoul.
Would you get an “illegal” tattoo in South Korea?
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Do you have any cool tattoo stories? Would you get a tattoo in Korea or some other foreign country? Or do you have any questions about my experience? Tell me in the comments below!
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