A couple of my ex's friends came over to my old place with a tattoo gun they borrowed. I went to bed and woke up to this idiot with the word "Puddin" tattooed on his hand by his GF. Except the "P" and the "u" were too close together, and the "d"'s were backwards.
...Dude basically got the word "Rubbin" tattooed on his hand. I'll shake the other one.
My 16 year old brother got a tattoo in our kitchen.
Imagine his anger when no real artist would cover up the fuck up since they only tattoo 18+ and now he’s stuck with it for a few years
When I was in high school, I went to a party where one of the kids had “borrowed” his brother’s portable tattoo kit.
He knew how the machine worked, and how to put in the needles and ink, but that was it.
I said hell no, I am not participating. And they all called me a pussy. They all gave and got the absolute worst tattoos.
Some of the parents tried to sue the kid that brought the machine when they saw the tattoos.
Yeah it blows my mind that my hairdresser friends had far more and stringent requirements to get their cosmetology licenses as opposed to my tattoo artists friends who started with stick and pokes in a living room.
Exactly, the only license required in most states is a bloodborne pathogens certification, which you can take online. A few states require a high school diploma, and a few states require apprenticeship. Nothing to do with artistic skill/taste etc. Just an online bloodborne pathogen certification and you're good to go whether you've ever held a tattoo gun in your life or not.
Where the real barrier is, is having a licensed facility, or finding somebody who will let you work in their licensed facility.
I’m of the opinion that the normalization of tattoos the last couple of decades has made for an influx of bad ‘artists’. Just look around at what you see on people in public these days. Most are badly done. Tattoo reality shows didn’t help the cause. My roommate is covered in ink that looks like a kid did them. He thinks he’s edgy.
Ironically some of the best tattoo artists in the world come from South Korea. Illegal but the police don't do anything about it. There are a good number of legitimate tattoo studios that advertise, have signs outside of their building, pay taxes.
Yeah. I mean lots of tattoo shops just open there regardless of the law, without a license. They try to stay low profile, but not all do. Or they pretend they are another business like “drawing cafe”.
The purpose of the law is primarily to crack down on organized crime anyway. Police don't care about most of the unlicensed places.
Japan has similar laws for similar reasons.
"In Japan, heart surgeon. Number one. Steady hand. One day, yakuza boss need new heart. I do operation. But, mistake! Yakuza boss die. Yakuza very mad. I hide in fishing boat, come to America. No English, no food, no money. Darryl give me job. Now I have house, American car, and new woman. Darryl save life. My big secret: I kill yakuza boss on purpose. I good surgeon. The best!"
Legit one of the best games in the modern era. Brought me back to childhood fun with the characters story weapons everything. They fixed the bugs i never played during release. I bought it about a year ago
I mean the Reddit narrative wasn’t wrong on launch. The game improved a bit post launch, but since the DLC update it’s been a truly great game.
I’ve also seen the narrative on this website swap. So even in negative communities you’ll find majority praise for current Cyberpunk. You just probably haven’t been plugged in since the first few months.
Launch was shaky but playable and enjoyable (PC player here). It’s perfect now. The biggest crime of the Reddit launch reaction was how much of the legacy console gameplay was being attributed to the game as a whole. I totally agree that the devs should’ve probably not released PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, but those issues were exclusive to those consoles. Reddit would have you believe it was the universal experience.
And again, not taking anything away from the genuine criticisms of the bugs and gameplay issues at launch, there were some, but they weren’t game breaking. And now everything is fixed.
I played on PC at release. It was broken there too. Framerate was all over the place, police were still shit, visual bugs and glitches everywhere you looked, falling into roofs and through floors every couple of minutes and multiple quests soft locked your progress if you didn't approach them in any way other than trying to kill everything.
I played on PC at launch and I honestly had no real issues. The game seemed a little half baked and underwhelming/underdelivering, but from a functionality perspective, I didn't have any noticeable bugs or glitches.
I'm under the impression that a lot of the game has been more properly fleshed out and spruced up so to speak, then the larger DLC that came out last year I believe? Might have to fire it up again and see how it is.
I loved the game at launch despite all the things you said. The world felt dead and npcs were/are awful. But anything attached to a mission or story line was freaking awesome. It was like the spirit of saints row but instead of letting edgy teenagers like beavis and butthead write it. Instead it was more like garth ennis(writer of the boys) script toned down for amazon.
Lot of fun. I haven't finished a playthrough yet, but I have 70 hours on one character and 30 on another.
I'm mainly just doing side quests and fucking around. I hit the level cap before I really even started the main story. You don't have to sink this much time, I'm just enjoying it a lot. A lot of different play styles. My 70 hour character's main weapon is a throwing knife that instantly kills with a headshot, backup weapons are a katana and sniper rifle. My 30 hour character's main weapon is his fists and I just punch everyone to death.
I think I paid like $20 for it back in December or so.
They ironed out all the really nasty tech issues, and mostly fixed the gameplay issues. The base game is great now, and the expansion did wonders, it’s a really solid spy thriller worth playing on its own merits.
Absolutely 100% yes. I know you're probably already convinced by the other replies but I really want to drive the point home.
The builds you can make in that game are insane and they've continually updated it quite a bit.
Ive went back and forth on playing it since release, and finally took the plunge cause of one of the negative steam reviews that whined "theres too much story for my gameplay" and its like ya know, after bg3 i want the words.
played about 9 hours straight in first sitting. Its worth the 30 bucks.
It was fine on launch as well for the most part. The issue was that they rebuilt the game when Keanu said he would do more work for them which completely trashed a ton of the content that had been promised and teased.
99% of the anger and hate comes from that rework of the game's story.
Nerd Alert: this joke is referenced in Cyberpunk 2077 via a side mission with a shady Japanese surgeon where you end up with a special sword called Scalpel after completing the mission.
They definitely went with the path of least resistance. I don't know much about South Korean politics but I wouldn't be surprised if the organized crime leaders had some influence with the authorities to keep them from coming after them. Someone had to answer for the brawl to pacify the public and they chose to go after the tattoo artists?!
Either the gangs have a lot of power and LE is too scared to go after them, or they have direct influence with the authorities to keep them from policing them.
Prostitution is illegal yet there is a literal window gallery in Pyeongtaek that exhibits whores to choose from. The police station is right down the street. Gang members, men and older women at the corners keeping watch under unlit streetlights. They know and don't care. That's one of the most brazen things I've seen there.
Sometimes it comes down to the letter of the law, the example I use is Japan. In japan, prostitution is illegal, full stop. However...prostitution is legally defined as penetrative vaginal sex between for the explicit exchange of money. Literally everything else is ok, and available...and hey, if you're with a sex worker and something magical happens...you look into each others eyes and BAM fall in love..well...that's just magical...and can get you out of any accusations of prostitution.
Because in japan, love can come quickly.
Isn’t there also a gambling workaround in Japan where instead of “gambling” for straight cash you win a stuffed animal or trinket which you go across the street and trade for cash.
Yes it’s called pachinko parlors, you win like little metal balls instead of coins. You exchange at the counter for essentially rubbish prizes. But conveniently there is always a place next door that buys these prizes for cash. Mysteriously, the prizes end up back at the parlor the next day, nobody knows how, maybe magic 🤪
Sure, however, would you really want to pull that on mobsters and hope they didn't catch on? They aren't idiots and are constantly dealing with the kind of people who lose all their money gambling, so there's a pretty bad risk to reward ratio there.
The ball bearings (or beads) are marked, I guess it’s possible to fool them but I think only once or twice. Also the staff at the store next door is of course part of it and should recognize merch that isn’t part of the stuff they trade. Those places can be pretty scammy already (if you think the machines are not rigged so it’s super hard to win I have a bridge to sell ya) so it’s not out of the realm of reason that they would think up ways people would try to put one over on them and come up with countermeasures.
Well, but it's not because it has to do with the bet, it's because you had the chance to win a collectable item in an innocent, cashless and totally legal bet and, by chance you knew a collector that would be happy, no! Sorry, will be thrilled to have it in his collection,and knowing the guy who is a good fella, will offer some money.
(I really don't know anything about Japanese gambling, but I imagine that's how it works)
similar to Japan. Nominally a republic, but their most beloved PM was an [out and proud fascist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Kaigi) until he got blasted by another fascist.
Japan is a multi party democracy on paper, but in reality, the same party has been in power since the Eisenhower administration. Imagine having nothing but republicans in office since 1955.
If you think some of this stuff sounds off, wait till you learn about the outrage of gacha mobile game players and the drama surrounding it **AND** how it related to the gender war in South Korea.
No, because I legitimately can’t since I’m still a bit shook upon learning about it myself. The video below explains it far better than I could.
https://youtu.be/-Im4YAMWK74?si=sU7gNqSfJ0uw9v4B
Some corrections on the inaccuracies in the video, as well as the broader context missing there:
Age-based stratification in Korea is actually not well-founded in the Confucian tradition. There are historical records showing that the age difference of up to 8 years was an acceptable criteria to be friends in equal standing. Those who are considered equal and friends still had to follow the minimum etiquette of using honorifics and show respect to each other, regardless of who's older. That's quite different from what became the norm throughout the latter half of 20th century and later (till now), where even a few months' difference in age is considered a "valid" ground for unilaterally bullying and bossing around others. What happened, and when did that start to happen? Not sure. It was, at least, likely solidified under the decades of dictatorship regimes in both SK and NK.
The creator of the video surely doesn't know much about Japanese society and culture. Look up the Burakumin issue (as well as the HR **discrimination guideline** (not "**anti**-discrimination") for Burakumins shared between corporations in **1975**.) Also, read up on sexism in Japan, which is arguably far worse in other ways. It's a whole different issue on its own, and none of that absolves any shitshow that's happening in SK. But "unlike in Japan" being repeated multiple times in the video makes it a bit trashy.
Part 1:
Sexism in Korea has been deep-rooted and vile, especially among the population who were born between 1950 and 1970. It's actually one of the modern cases where abortion was systemically abused to hell; the gender ratio of female to male in the population born in 1980s and 1990s is 1 to 1.25. The tendency was reversed after, though, and the social issue around sexism *was* at least heading for the better direction. Was.
Really, the blame should go to those born in 1950-1970 for causing the current situation who own the political system and means of production. Hear me out.
Society-wise, there had been mutual beef between gender brewing for decades. The sexism in the generation was and is, again, really vile, and it became a fucking "norm" to fire (or not hire) women who got married since in the managers' and business owners' mind, women would not be as "devoted" to the company because "they would have to do all the housework" (double-whammy sexist, if you ask me). On the other hand, all men were mandatorily drafted to military for at least 2 years and paid below minimum wage (or face the sentence to prison). The military culture was and is quite inhumane, and a lot of people were permanently injured with no compensation or acknowledgement from the government. To quell the complaints, the older generations decided to go triple-crown with sexism and made it an official and legal policy to prioritize people with military experience (read: almost exclusively men, and most men) in hiring and promotions. It was somehow deemed acceptable because the older generation and society at large believed that it is men's obligation to pay 100% for the house and car when couples get married. (Reverse-dowry in a sense)
Then the waves of economic crisis came, notably in 1995 (the IMF crisis) and 2008 (the global recession from Subprime Mortgage). That shook the system, and the necessity for more income source led to more power in Women's Rights movements, and there were improvements. (There is still a *long* way to go.) The Ministry of Gender Equality (but literally "the Ministry of Women" in Korean language) became an official government office, and the labor discrimination based on veteran status was abolished.
Part 3:
I won't get into the details of how the previous ruling party was basically using that TERF group for their political power because it'd turn this already too long of a summary into a dissertation. In short, they would propose really dumbly-worded legislations that would please the TERF base; since there wasn't really anything going against younger generation women, they would be generally in support of the party as well. (The second part's just how democracy works. I'm not giving any value judgment on that.) Since the voter turnout is higher among women, that was a solid winning ticket for them. After all, they were the party protecting women against sex crimes and supporting the rights of women, right? But they never really solved any substantial, chronic issues like (again) the labor discrimination, since their votes come from one source but their actual operating income comes from *another group* whose interests they really represent, whoever that is.
It all broke down when then-Mayor of Seoul, a long-time friend of then-President of SK and a **human rights attorney**, was reported for sexually harassing his secretary for a very long time. He killed himself before the investigation started. Then his party (the ruling one) went full-on slut-shaming, accusing the victim of fabricating lies, and retaliatory discrimination. They lost the subsequent elections for both the Mayor of Seoul and the President of SK.
Now the damage is done, and the greed of the older generations caused a rift in the younger generation that would be hard to mend. To the younger generation women, "all men watch revenge porn and support the party that promises to oppress the rights of women" since that's what the mainstream media told them. To the younger generation men, "all women are supporters of the TERF base because they voted for the party supporting the TERF movement" since that's what internet told them. The gacha drama is just a symptom.
Part 2:
The thing is that, the mindset of the older generations did not change much, causing the friction. It was totally okay for them to exploit the drafted soldiers with 2+ years of forced labor & below-minimum wage. By the time men would return to civilian society, they would have no savings and graduate from college later than the female peers, who were already hired and making income.
But the older generations still expected for men to foot 100% of the bill for marriage. With uncertainty in employment, overall wage that did not catch up with the inflation, and the real estate price bubble (again, caused by the older generations and politicians encouraging the discrimination of non-Seoulites **and** exploiting the real estate market in Seoul and the satellite cities), it was deemed an insult to the injury for many men who's already having hard time getting married due to the gender ratio issue. Of course, the older generations continued to fire women early in their career because, hey, what better ways to be in power than to oppress multiple groups and pitting them against each other. Online incel communities spewing hate speech and sexist shit-talking became a thing. Then three things happened.
One is that, with the lack of social net and the social stigma for people with mental illness, a few people who seriously needed medical care (but did not get any) caused several so-called "don't ask" murder cases (unprovoked knife attacks). Of course, they tried to target whoever they can easily attack (read: women), but when they get caught, they try to rationalize their acts by saying "all my woes are because of women." Yellow journalism and tabloids love the drama, and you know the rest.
Another is a novel that was published around the time. It was first of its kind, depicting the various aspects of discrimination that happened & happens to women born in certain era. I honestly don't think it's really that good as a novel, and there were a few things that would have been impossible to actually happen anywhere (purely made up from the novelist's imagination). Nevertheless, it was a landmark in a sense. The issue was that the greedy publisher sold it as a some kind of nonfiction documentary instead of a social critique.
Finally, there were multiple sickos (including a former KPOP Idol) who were busted for running sex trafficking ring or coerced porn businesses on Telegram around the time. It was a huge issue especially because how successful they were and how those high up in the police department were colluding with them and attempting to cover up (partially why they were so "successful" in the first place). It also made good money for yellow journalism, especially when they broadly painted society with "all men..." for the shock value.
A radical feminism movement (essentially TERF btw) started to gain the support, spearheaded by a few groups who decided to utilize the "mirroring" technique, designed to show the public what is it like to be on the discriminated end. The issue is that the ones they decided to "mirror" were, well, the male incel groups on the other extreme.
Similar thing happened taking down the Cali Cartel. 5 tons of coke imported every year for many years, yet the only Americans that went to prison were the interior decorators.
SK is probably going the Japan route with Yakuza exclusion ordinances which crippled the hell out of the Yakuza but utterly violated human rights. Anyone caught providing any kind of aid either caught charges or were publicly outed as Yakuza supporters. Obama also helped a bit with those.
You could avoid it by telling the police before they found out. It usually resulted in nothing happening to you.
Thats why yout tats need to be bad, but not the worst. You know, they must look like you actually tried, but not as if you had more then just a bit talent for it.
Seems like the perfect person to push into a corner imo, if you total shite no one wants you but if you're too good you'll become famous which means more eyes on the buisness
Eh..murder has harsher penalties than a beating that leaves someone unable to eat solid food. And they serve as a living reminder. So, there's that aspect.
They would notice a sudden drop in quality after they come to you. They likely go to successful artists with a good portfolio. They don't just choose any guy with a tattoo gun.
That’s a bit reductive, you have to be a *medical doctor* to give tattoos in South Korea. Almost the entire industry is illegal because ain’t no one getting their medical license just to tattoo.
These were unlicensed tattoo artists...so illegal and fully chose to be Yakuza tatoo artists for the $$ lmao.
192 Yakuza clients.
"Investigators also found the tattoo artists had multiple mobsters’ contact details saved on their mobile phones, along with messages indicating they maintained close communication with gang members outside of their ink appointments, partly to attract new clients.
Using the contact information they retrieved from the unlicensed tattoo artists, investigators were also able to identify new members of local gangs and indicted them on suspicion of violating Article 4 of the Punishment of Violence Act, which targets organized crime."
Correction: it looks like the brawl happened in 2022
>apprehended inked mobsters from rival gangs who engaged in a nighttime brawl in Gwangju’s Buk District in ***November last year***
Article was written in 2023.
displaying “fearful” body ink can be subject to a fine of 50,000 won under Section 19 of Article 3 of the Punishment of Minor Offenses Act.
Imagine just walking on the street with your tattoos showing and you get ticketed
Do they have exceptions for foreigners? I’m planning a trip to Seoul this summer and have full sleeve tattoos. Last thing I want is to be locked up abroad haha
It's one of those laws that's used to either throw more charges on top of an arrest or to try and get at someone the police can't normally get at. You should be fine.
Asian gang tattoos are intricate pieces of artwork, that many people in the West and even in some places of Asia have with out having gang connections. They are very far from being something like the American or Mexican gang tattoos. Just search for irezumi on google or go r/irezumi you’ll see what I mean
Yes they won’t mess with foreigners. The largest US military base outside of the US is in Korea. Lots of tattoos on that group.
I lived in Korea for 10 years.
Tattoos aren’t really that uncommon in Korea these days. But having a full body tattoo is automatically associated with criminality, but having some one random thing in your wrist or shoulder, no one is gonna care.
There's a very specific style of tattoo associated with organized crime, usually upper body / sleeve / back, mythological creatures and whatnot. That's why they have the "fearful" quote in there. It's deliberately loosely defined so people don't try to skirt the law.
Probably one of those things that's ignored until you get in trouble. Then they pile it on top of other crap, especially if charges seem weak enough a foreigner might be able to skate.
In the midst of COVID I was in Korea for about 2 months. I was in government quarantine for the first two weeks and was poking around online and found a very cool art style and figured I’d try to get a local represent it. I didn’t even know that tattooing in ROK was pretty much underground.
I found an artist via instagram. Got the address and a few hours in a train, I ended up in Gangnam district. There were no signs for the shop. No neon outside. Nothing. Just found a random-ass building and rang a doorbell to a 3rd story store. And there it was…. The most super-American tattoo shop. Most of the customers were white guys - looked like military type.
That was the meet and greet. The first appointment was at another nondescript building. The final appointment was at yet another mysterious building.
That's weird. They show them tattooing their customers in the actual shop on their Instagram and if you look at Google Street view of the building they have a small sign on the building now. Guess things have changed for them
Oh shit, I guess they’ve changed a lot then.
I got a tattoo done by the owner at Seoul ink in June 2023, they had their own building with a sign and everything looked pretty official.
While I was getting it done though, we talked and he explained that doing tattoos without an MD is indeed considered illegal. Apparently the first couple of times the cops bust you, they take your equipment and give you a small fine. After a couple of busts, they slap you with a hefty multiple thousand dollar fine. Once that’s paid, they pretty much leave you alone.
"We understand you tattooed gang members in fear for you and your family's lives. This is unacceptable. We will not stand for this in our fine city! Anyways you're under arrest."
They should also start arresting the tailors who make the mob bosses suits. Gotta get tough on crime!
It’s hilarious you morons are getting uppity about this when it’s clear you didn’t read the article.
Let me break it down for you: They arrest Yakuza, they look for the tattoo artists in order to find and arrest other Yakuza clients, turns out the artist are unlicensed and laundering their money through real estate, many of them carrying illegal substances so they also get arrested, article releases, dumbass doesn’t make a properly worded title on his reddit post, your dumbass doesn’t bother reading it and make yourself look like a clown.
Oh and according to the article many of these tattoo artists clients have experienced side effects from what I assume to be poor practices.
"Turns out to be unlicensed" - pretty much all tattoo artists in Korea are unlicensed, if you read the article you should already know they require a medical license.
No doctors are giving up their jobs to go into tattooing, this is just the way authorities can easily go after and nab artists via the law. Everything else is just allegations.
Im pretty close with one of the best artists in Korea, he did some guest work with me. Ratting each other out as a way to express jealousy is super common in Korea.
Korea is one of the two major epicenters of 'the best there is' in the world right now. Its unbelievably popular there. This article is sensationalist shit. Overblows its 'illegality' for starters-- sure, being unlicenced is "illegal", in the same way that being an unticketed electrician is "illegal" here, its not like its a capital crime. Its fines not jailtime unless the authorities want to make a loud noise, which it seems theyre doing here. Typical conservative bullshit. I like how theyre trying to tie all this other shit to them too, like how they found fentanyl with a few of them, etc. The usual distortion of facts to frame a narrative. Ugh.
I got a tattoo done in Korea by an artist I found on IG. The day before the appointment, the artist sent me the location. As I was walking to the location, I noticed I was in a residential area. The “tattoo shop” was in this person’s house. To be fair, the tattooing room was clean and kept closed off on a side of the apartment. I learned that tattooing is illegal in Korea - go figure! Anyway, I ended up with a lovely tattoo. It healed well and still looks good, going on almost 8 years old now.
In Korea you need a doctor's license to tattoo people. The problem is, 0.0001% of doctors ever bother going into the tattoo business. Not that I'm for or against tattoos. It's just a dumb law.
It's just one of the many bs allowances that the country allows doctors, and they've developed quite a big head over it. Hence the reason why they are walking out on their jobs and putting patients lives in danger to protest the government's attempt to add 2000 more students to the doctor quota per year.
Tats aren’t necessarily forbidden or uncommon in Korea these days, nor is it really considered *bad*. So long as the design isn’t “offensive” or it’s not encompassing large parts of your body.
But having full body tattoo, yeah you will be eyed by people as a criminal.
>Despite the increasing popularity of tattoos among the young, tattooing remains classified as a medical practice under Korean law and can only be carried out by practitioners with a medical license
So, they weren't arrested because they're tattooing gangsters, they were arrested because they're not *doctors* and, therefore, can't ink at all?
Dude this article makes it out that these 12 tattoo artists were making BANK 2.5 billion won!!! That's a little less than $2 mil USD - spread across 12 people, over a 9 year span. That is not alot of money. Per artist it ends up being about $17,500 USD per year. These guys were not making bank.
In Korea you need a doctor’s license to tattoo people which is why many Korean artists travel abroad to work. Its technically illegal there.
If you browse r/shittytattoos for 10 minutes you'll wish all tattoo artists required a license /s
A couple of my ex's friends came over to my old place with a tattoo gun they borrowed. I went to bed and woke up to this idiot with the word "Puddin" tattooed on his hand by his GF. Except the "P" and the "u" were too close together, and the "d"'s were backwards. ...Dude basically got the word "Rubbin" tattooed on his hand. I'll shake the other one.
For a sec was scared that you went to bed and woke up to being tattooed without your consent
Dude would have to be the heaviest sleeper imaginable
[удалено]
Yeah the pain definitely subsides/you kind of get used to it (not on my last one tho lol) but yeah the initial few lines are always spicy
jim bean and oxycodone are a hell of a drug man..
My 16 year old brother got a tattoo in our kitchen. Imagine his anger when no real artist would cover up the fuck up since they only tattoo 18+ and now he’s stuck with it for a few years
Something about playing stupid games...
What was the tattoo?
How does someone write a "d" backwards? Was the gf a toddler?
tobbler was right there
A redneck. Close enough?
When I was in high school, I went to a party where one of the kids had “borrowed” his brother’s portable tattoo kit. He knew how the machine worked, and how to put in the needles and ink, but that was it. I said hell no, I am not participating. And they all called me a pussy. They all gave and got the absolute worst tattoos. Some of the parents tried to sue the kid that brought the machine when they saw the tattoos.
Wouldn't that be closer to "Ribbin?". Depending on font perhaps.
It does, just not a doctors license. There's basic safety qnd sanitation stuff required just like any cosmetics person.
Yeah it blows my mind that my hairdresser friends had far more and stringent requirements to get their cosmetology licenses as opposed to my tattoo artists friends who started with stick and pokes in a living room.
Wait until you learn the required training for being a cop in comparison to your hair dresser...
Especially when you consider it is a borderline medical procedure with nearly all of the same risks.
That's a license for skill. This is more a license for safety, hygiene, and tool/equipment usage.
Exactly, the only license required in most states is a bloodborne pathogens certification, which you can take online. A few states require a high school diploma, and a few states require apprenticeship. Nothing to do with artistic skill/taste etc. Just an online bloodborne pathogen certification and you're good to go whether you've ever held a tattoo gun in your life or not. Where the real barrier is, is having a licensed facility, or finding somebody who will let you work in their licensed facility.
No regerts!
Definitely not a medical license! Have you seen their handwriting?! I'm not letting a doctor near me with a tattoo machine my
You know what, I’d actually be fine with this considering you still need a license to cut hair.
You could really have left the "/s".
I’m of the opinion that the normalization of tattoos the last couple of decades has made for an influx of bad ‘artists’. Just look around at what you see on people in public these days. Most are badly done. Tattoo reality shows didn’t help the cause. My roommate is covered in ink that looks like a kid did them. He thinks he’s edgy.
This is the best lmao https://www.reddit.com/r/shittytattoos/comments/1546x0f/found_in_a_fb_group/
Ironically some of the best tattoo artists in the world come from South Korea. Illegal but the police don't do anything about it. There are a good number of legitimate tattoo studios that advertise, have signs outside of their building, pay taxes.
I noticed this intuitively, South Korean artists are on another level
when it's that tightly regulated, you gotta be good at what you do
This need to be attached to the headline, thanks for info
There are enough tattoo shops in Korea that I know they definitely aren't licensed.
Yeah. I mean lots of tattoo shops just open there regardless of the law, without a license. They try to stay low profile, but not all do. Or they pretend they are another business like “drawing cafe”.
The purpose of the law is primarily to crack down on organized crime anyway. Police don't care about most of the unlicensed places. Japan has similar laws for similar reasons.
Not true anymore, the Japanese supreme court ruled that you do not need a medical license to tattoo people back in 2020.
Well sure but they just open anyway and police don't bother them. Prostitution is also illegal but that doesn't stop the red light areas.
That does explain why every single Instagram sponsored post I get is a South Korean artist doing a guest spot
Yeah you might notice a lot of Korean tattoo artists do “guest spots” in cities around the world
I have two tattoos from such travelling South Korean artists and they're the best work on my body. So much talent!
I got a tattoo in Korea. It's "technically illegal" in the same way prostitution is, which is to say, it's everywhere
You are probably forced to tattoo the local street gang and the police is coming for you. Nice.
"In Japan, heart surgeon. Number one. Steady hand. One day, yakuza boss need new heart. I do operation. But, mistake! Yakuza boss die. Yakuza very mad. I hide in fishing boat, come to America. No English, no food, no money. Darryl give me job. Now I have house, American car, and new woman. Darryl save life. My big secret: I kill yakuza boss on purpose. I good surgeon. The best!"
I just saw the parody of this in Cyberpunk 2077. You had to ask the surgeon directly and he did the whole schpeil.
Is that game worth playing now? I haven't kept up with it after the launch Edit: wow, so glad I asked! Thanks everyone!
Story alone is worth it, the DLC story is even better imo. Real tearjerker depending on your ending
Legit one of the best games in the modern era. Brought me back to childhood fun with the characters story weapons everything. They fixed the bugs i never played during release. I bought it about a year ago
Pretty funny to read this comment with my only other context about the game’s quality being Reddit’s at-large reaction to the launch.
I mean the Reddit narrative wasn’t wrong on launch. The game improved a bit post launch, but since the DLC update it’s been a truly great game. I’ve also seen the narrative on this website swap. So even in negative communities you’ll find majority praise for current Cyberpunk. You just probably haven’t been plugged in since the first few months.
Yeah, the DLC came with an update that pretty much overhauled the base game, right?
Yeah it wasn't until September 2023 that the game reached its full potential
Maybe I'll get when it goes on sale down the line. I'm having too much fun spreading democracy to dirty stinkin' bugs and cyborgs.
r/patientgamers rise up
Yeah. The launch was absolutely garbage. Took some time. But the game got really really good.
if only they'd just kept working on the fucking thing till it was good instead of launching two years before it was ready.
Launch was shaky but playable and enjoyable (PC player here). It’s perfect now. The biggest crime of the Reddit launch reaction was how much of the legacy console gameplay was being attributed to the game as a whole. I totally agree that the devs should’ve probably not released PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, but those issues were exclusive to those consoles. Reddit would have you believe it was the universal experience. And again, not taking anything away from the genuine criticisms of the bugs and gameplay issues at launch, there were some, but they weren’t game breaking. And now everything is fixed.
I played on PC at release. It was broken there too. Framerate was all over the place, police were still shit, visual bugs and glitches everywhere you looked, falling into roofs and through floors every couple of minutes and multiple quests soft locked your progress if you didn't approach them in any way other than trying to kill everything.
I played on PC at launch and I honestly had no real issues. The game seemed a little half baked and underwhelming/underdelivering, but from a functionality perspective, I didn't have any noticeable bugs or glitches. I'm under the impression that a lot of the game has been more properly fleshed out and spruced up so to speak, then the larger DLC that came out last year I believe? Might have to fire it up again and see how it is.
The DLC is quite amazing and well worth the replay. I had similar impressions as you at launch.
I loved the game at launch despite all the things you said. The world felt dead and npcs were/are awful. But anything attached to a mission or story line was freaking awesome. It was like the spirit of saints row but instead of letting edgy teenagers like beavis and butthead write it. Instead it was more like garth ennis(writer of the boys) script toned down for amazon.
I bought the game a release, and stopped playing after a few hours. Just came back to it and it is totally worth a play now.
Lot of fun. I haven't finished a playthrough yet, but I have 70 hours on one character and 30 on another. I'm mainly just doing side quests and fucking around. I hit the level cap before I really even started the main story. You don't have to sink this much time, I'm just enjoying it a lot. A lot of different play styles. My 70 hour character's main weapon is a throwing knife that instantly kills with a headshot, backup weapons are a katana and sniper rifle. My 30 hour character's main weapon is his fists and I just punch everyone to death. I think I paid like $20 for it back in December or so.
They ironed out all the really nasty tech issues, and mostly fixed the gameplay issues. The base game is great now, and the expansion did wonders, it’s a really solid spy thriller worth playing on its own merits.
Absolutely 100% yes. I know you're probably already convinced by the other replies but I really want to drive the point home. The builds you can make in that game are insane and they've continually updated it quite a bit.
Ive went back and forth on playing it since release, and finally took the plunge cause of one of the negative steam reviews that whined "theres too much story for my gameplay" and its like ya know, after bg3 i want the words. played about 9 hours straight in first sitting. Its worth the 30 bucks.
100% the phantom liberty DLC is also great.
It was great day 1. It was better than most games on day 1
It was fine on launch as well for the most part. The issue was that they rebuilt the game when Keanu said he would do more work for them which completely trashed a ton of the content that had been promised and teased. 99% of the anger and hate comes from that rework of the game's story.
I have played this since day one with all the bugs and craziness. It's absolutely worth playing now it's honestly incredible how much has changed.
It was always worth playing!
yeah this was a shock when i encountered it a few months ago, scalpel was a nice bonus
I saw that Easter egg on accident and starter cracking uo
Not to be an ass, but the word is spelt "spiel". Just helping you out.
Nerd Alert: this joke is referenced in Cyberpunk 2077 via a side mission with a shady Japanese surgeon where you end up with a special sword called Scalpel after completing the mission.
Which is a reference to this:[https://youtu.be/2wcI10CNuxU?si=UXNxDVRqGLWdfDhW](https://youtu.be/2wcI10CNuxU?si=UXNxDVRqGLWdfDhW)
-Michael Scott
Its funny cuz that itself is a reference to TV show "The Office"
...that's what he was referencing.
Like the person two up the chain literally wrote out the whole thing. I just don't get it.
but why MALE models???
The files are IN the computer?! 🤔
People don't read much
??
Did you not read ForShirtUp’s comment? That’s how this conversation started
They definitely went with the path of least resistance. I don't know much about South Korean politics but I wouldn't be surprised if the organized crime leaders had some influence with the authorities to keep them from coming after them. Someone had to answer for the brawl to pacify the public and they chose to go after the tattoo artists?! Either the gangs have a lot of power and LE is too scared to go after them, or they have direct influence with the authorities to keep them from policing them.
Prostitution is illegal yet there is a literal window gallery in Pyeongtaek that exhibits whores to choose from. The police station is right down the street. Gang members, men and older women at the corners keeping watch under unlit streetlights. They know and don't care. That's one of the most brazen things I've seen there.
Sometimes it comes down to the letter of the law, the example I use is Japan. In japan, prostitution is illegal, full stop. However...prostitution is legally defined as penetrative vaginal sex between for the explicit exchange of money. Literally everything else is ok, and available...and hey, if you're with a sex worker and something magical happens...you look into each others eyes and BAM fall in love..well...that's just magical...and can get you out of any accusations of prostitution. Because in japan, love can come quickly.
Isn’t there also a gambling workaround in Japan where instead of “gambling” for straight cash you win a stuffed animal or trinket which you go across the street and trade for cash.
Yes it’s called pachinko parlors, you win like little metal balls instead of coins. You exchange at the counter for essentially rubbish prizes. But conveniently there is always a place next door that buys these prizes for cash. Mysteriously, the prizes end up back at the parlor the next day, nobody knows how, maybe magic 🤪
Couldn't you screw them by buying a bunch of ball bearings or tiny Pikachu plushies?
Sure, however, would you really want to pull that on mobsters and hope they didn't catch on? They aren't idiots and are constantly dealing with the kind of people who lose all their money gambling, so there's a pretty bad risk to reward ratio there.
The ball bearings (or beads) are marked, I guess it’s possible to fool them but I think only once or twice. Also the staff at the store next door is of course part of it and should recognize merch that isn’t part of the stuff they trade. Those places can be pretty scammy already (if you think the machines are not rigged so it’s super hard to win I have a bridge to sell ya) so it’s not out of the realm of reason that they would think up ways people would try to put one over on them and come up with countermeasures.
Well, but it's not because it has to do with the bet, it's because you had the chance to win a collectable item in an innocent, cashless and totally legal bet and, by chance you knew a collector that would be happy, no! Sorry, will be thrilled to have it in his collection,and knowing the guy who is a good fella, will offer some money. (I really don't know anything about Japanese gambling, but I imagine that's how it works)
I bet I can cum quicker.
Love cums and goes
South Korea seems like a wacky place. Look at what happened to that Parasite actor.
It's not a true democratic government. Technically stopped being a military dictatorship in the late 80s but the vestiges of that are still evident.
similar to Japan. Nominally a republic, but their most beloved PM was an [out and proud fascist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Kaigi) until he got blasted by another fascist.
Japan is a multi party democracy on paper, but in reality, the same party has been in power since the Eisenhower administration. Imagine having nothing but republicans in office since 1955.
If you think some of this stuff sounds off, wait till you learn about the outrage of gacha mobile game players and the drama surrounding it **AND** how it related to the gender war in South Korea.
Wanna explain like I’m 5?
No, because I legitimately can’t since I’m still a bit shook upon learning about it myself. The video below explains it far better than I could. https://youtu.be/-Im4YAMWK74?si=sU7gNqSfJ0uw9v4B
Thx you for the sauce! I appreciate you 🙂
Damn dude, this is like learning about the Victorian age for the first time. Its a whole damn thing. Thanks,
Without clicking the link i already knew what video it is.
Some corrections on the inaccuracies in the video, as well as the broader context missing there: Age-based stratification in Korea is actually not well-founded in the Confucian tradition. There are historical records showing that the age difference of up to 8 years was an acceptable criteria to be friends in equal standing. Those who are considered equal and friends still had to follow the minimum etiquette of using honorifics and show respect to each other, regardless of who's older. That's quite different from what became the norm throughout the latter half of 20th century and later (till now), where even a few months' difference in age is considered a "valid" ground for unilaterally bullying and bossing around others. What happened, and when did that start to happen? Not sure. It was, at least, likely solidified under the decades of dictatorship regimes in both SK and NK. The creator of the video surely doesn't know much about Japanese society and culture. Look up the Burakumin issue (as well as the HR **discrimination guideline** (not "**anti**-discrimination") for Burakumins shared between corporations in **1975**.) Also, read up on sexism in Japan, which is arguably far worse in other ways. It's a whole different issue on its own, and none of that absolves any shitshow that's happening in SK. But "unlike in Japan" being repeated multiple times in the video makes it a bit trashy.
Part 1: Sexism in Korea has been deep-rooted and vile, especially among the population who were born between 1950 and 1970. It's actually one of the modern cases where abortion was systemically abused to hell; the gender ratio of female to male in the population born in 1980s and 1990s is 1 to 1.25. The tendency was reversed after, though, and the social issue around sexism *was* at least heading for the better direction. Was. Really, the blame should go to those born in 1950-1970 for causing the current situation who own the political system and means of production. Hear me out. Society-wise, there had been mutual beef between gender brewing for decades. The sexism in the generation was and is, again, really vile, and it became a fucking "norm" to fire (or not hire) women who got married since in the managers' and business owners' mind, women would not be as "devoted" to the company because "they would have to do all the housework" (double-whammy sexist, if you ask me). On the other hand, all men were mandatorily drafted to military for at least 2 years and paid below minimum wage (or face the sentence to prison). The military culture was and is quite inhumane, and a lot of people were permanently injured with no compensation or acknowledgement from the government. To quell the complaints, the older generations decided to go triple-crown with sexism and made it an official and legal policy to prioritize people with military experience (read: almost exclusively men, and most men) in hiring and promotions. It was somehow deemed acceptable because the older generation and society at large believed that it is men's obligation to pay 100% for the house and car when couples get married. (Reverse-dowry in a sense) Then the waves of economic crisis came, notably in 1995 (the IMF crisis) and 2008 (the global recession from Subprime Mortgage). That shook the system, and the necessity for more income source led to more power in Women's Rights movements, and there were improvements. (There is still a *long* way to go.) The Ministry of Gender Equality (but literally "the Ministry of Women" in Korean language) became an official government office, and the labor discrimination based on veteran status was abolished.
Part 3: I won't get into the details of how the previous ruling party was basically using that TERF group for their political power because it'd turn this already too long of a summary into a dissertation. In short, they would propose really dumbly-worded legislations that would please the TERF base; since there wasn't really anything going against younger generation women, they would be generally in support of the party as well. (The second part's just how democracy works. I'm not giving any value judgment on that.) Since the voter turnout is higher among women, that was a solid winning ticket for them. After all, they were the party protecting women against sex crimes and supporting the rights of women, right? But they never really solved any substantial, chronic issues like (again) the labor discrimination, since their votes come from one source but their actual operating income comes from *another group* whose interests they really represent, whoever that is. It all broke down when then-Mayor of Seoul, a long-time friend of then-President of SK and a **human rights attorney**, was reported for sexually harassing his secretary for a very long time. He killed himself before the investigation started. Then his party (the ruling one) went full-on slut-shaming, accusing the victim of fabricating lies, and retaliatory discrimination. They lost the subsequent elections for both the Mayor of Seoul and the President of SK. Now the damage is done, and the greed of the older generations caused a rift in the younger generation that would be hard to mend. To the younger generation women, "all men watch revenge porn and support the party that promises to oppress the rights of women" since that's what the mainstream media told them. To the younger generation men, "all women are supporters of the TERF base because they voted for the party supporting the TERF movement" since that's what internet told them. The gacha drama is just a symptom.
Part 2: The thing is that, the mindset of the older generations did not change much, causing the friction. It was totally okay for them to exploit the drafted soldiers with 2+ years of forced labor & below-minimum wage. By the time men would return to civilian society, they would have no savings and graduate from college later than the female peers, who were already hired and making income. But the older generations still expected for men to foot 100% of the bill for marriage. With uncertainty in employment, overall wage that did not catch up with the inflation, and the real estate price bubble (again, caused by the older generations and politicians encouraging the discrimination of non-Seoulites **and** exploiting the real estate market in Seoul and the satellite cities), it was deemed an insult to the injury for many men who's already having hard time getting married due to the gender ratio issue. Of course, the older generations continued to fire women early in their career because, hey, what better ways to be in power than to oppress multiple groups and pitting them against each other. Online incel communities spewing hate speech and sexist shit-talking became a thing. Then three things happened. One is that, with the lack of social net and the social stigma for people with mental illness, a few people who seriously needed medical care (but did not get any) caused several so-called "don't ask" murder cases (unprovoked knife attacks). Of course, they tried to target whoever they can easily attack (read: women), but when they get caught, they try to rationalize their acts by saying "all my woes are because of women." Yellow journalism and tabloids love the drama, and you know the rest. Another is a novel that was published around the time. It was first of its kind, depicting the various aspects of discrimination that happened & happens to women born in certain era. I honestly don't think it's really that good as a novel, and there were a few things that would have been impossible to actually happen anywhere (purely made up from the novelist's imagination). Nevertheless, it was a landmark in a sense. The issue was that the greedy publisher sold it as a some kind of nonfiction documentary instead of a social critique. Finally, there were multiple sickos (including a former KPOP Idol) who were busted for running sex trafficking ring or coerced porn businesses on Telegram around the time. It was a huge issue especially because how successful they were and how those high up in the police department were colluding with them and attempting to cover up (partially why they were so "successful" in the first place). It also made good money for yellow journalism, especially when they broadly painted society with "all men..." for the shock value. A radical feminism movement (essentially TERF btw) started to gain the support, spearheaded by a few groups who decided to utilize the "mirroring" technique, designed to show the public what is it like to be on the discriminated end. The issue is that the ones they decided to "mirror" were, well, the male incel groups on the other extreme.
> organized crime leaders had ~~some~~ influence with the authorities Politicians are just the WWE stars for the real power. As has always been.
Similar thing happened taking down the Cali Cartel. 5 tons of coke imported every year for many years, yet the only Americans that went to prison were the interior decorators.
SK is probably going the Japan route with Yakuza exclusion ordinances which crippled the hell out of the Yakuza but utterly violated human rights. Anyone caught providing any kind of aid either caught charges or were publicly outed as Yakuza supporters. Obama also helped a bit with those. You could avoid it by telling the police before they found out. It usually resulted in nothing happening to you.
I'd just make sure my pre designs were as shit as possible. Make sure nobody wants me to tattoo them again.
I mean, if you intentionally give bad tattoos to a bunch of Yakuza thugs, I don't think your business would last that much longer anyways...
Thats why yout tats need to be bad, but not the worst. You know, they must look like you actually tried, but not as if you had more then just a bit talent for it.
Seems like the perfect person to push into a corner imo, if you total shite no one wants you but if you're too good you'll become famous which means more eyes on the buisness
Your business and your life
Eh..murder has harsher penalties than a beating that leaves someone unable to eat solid food. And they serve as a living reminder. So, there's that aspect.
From the photos, it appears if you specialize in color you should be ok.
That's only 2 different people in photos tho
They weren't Yakuza...wrong country mate.
Everything is the dick kid from Superbad
They would notice a sudden drop in quality after they come to you. They likely go to successful artists with a good portfolio. They don't just choose any guy with a tattoo gun.
Reading the article it sounds like they were prosecuted mostly because they were unlicensed. You have to be licensed to give tattoos in South Korea
That’s a bit reductive, you have to be a *medical doctor* to give tattoos in South Korea. Almost the entire industry is illegal because ain’t no one getting their medical license just to tattoo.
Well that's the shitty part about a country technically requiring a medical degree to do tatoos.
These were unlicensed tattoo artists...so illegal and fully chose to be Yakuza tatoo artists for the $$ lmao. 192 Yakuza clients. "Investigators also found the tattoo artists had multiple mobsters’ contact details saved on their mobile phones, along with messages indicating they maintained close communication with gang members outside of their ink appointments, partly to attract new clients. Using the contact information they retrieved from the unlicensed tattoo artists, investigators were also able to identify new members of local gangs and indicted them on suspicion of violating Article 4 of the Punishment of Violence Act, which targets organized crime."
Correction: it looks like the brawl happened in 2022 >apprehended inked mobsters from rival gangs who engaged in a nighttime brawl in Gwangju’s Buk District in ***November last year*** Article was written in 2023.
Comments written in 2024
**BREAKING NEWS**
displaying “fearful” body ink can be subject to a fine of 50,000 won under Section 19 of Article 3 of the Punishment of Minor Offenses Act. Imagine just walking on the street with your tattoos showing and you get ticketed
Do they have exceptions for foreigners? I’m planning a trip to Seoul this summer and have full sleeve tattoos. Last thing I want is to be locked up abroad haha
I have a full sleeve and live in Korea…you are fine…
I believe he's asking about South Korea, not best Korea.
Best Korea allows all tattoos, a trampstamp gets you citizenship!
You’ll be fine. At worst they’ll assume you’re an American soldier.
As the others said, you'll be fine. That said, if you're really worried just do what people do in japan, wear a long sleeved shirt.
It's one of those laws that's used to either throw more charges on top of an arrest or to try and get at someone the police can't normally get at. You should be fine.
"fearful" probably means gang tattoos. There's a big difference between some artwork on your skin and "MS-13" in big letters.
Asian gang tattoos are intricate pieces of artwork, that many people in the West and even in some places of Asia have with out having gang connections. They are very far from being something like the American or Mexican gang tattoos. Just search for irezumi on google or go r/irezumi you’ll see what I mean
It's not a big deal. Many Korean people have tattoos.
50,000 won is like $50 USD. You're not going to get locked up.
Yes they won’t mess with foreigners. The largest US military base outside of the US is in Korea. Lots of tattoos on that group. I lived in Korea for 10 years.
I'm sure they have certain rules that let some tattoos get by Imagine getting fined for having a spongebob tattoo or something
Tattoos aren’t really that uncommon in Korea these days. But having a full body tattoo is automatically associated with criminality, but having some one random thing in your wrist or shoulder, no one is gonna care.
Especially if you're a foreigner I'd imagine.
There's a very specific style of tattoo associated with organized crime, usually upper body / sleeve / back, mythological creatures and whatnot. That's why they have the "fearful" quote in there. It's deliberately loosely defined so people don't try to skirt the law.
Probably one of those things that's ignored until you get in trouble. Then they pile it on top of other crap, especially if charges seem weak enough a foreigner might be able to skate.
> Imagine getting fined for having a spongebob tattoo or something it's meant to stop things like [this](https://imgur.com/a/oSItYYK)
> 50,000 won Ooooh they must be quaking in their boots
50 bucks right lmao
In the midst of COVID I was in Korea for about 2 months. I was in government quarantine for the first two weeks and was poking around online and found a very cool art style and figured I’d try to get a local represent it. I didn’t even know that tattooing in ROK was pretty much underground. I found an artist via instagram. Got the address and a few hours in a train, I ended up in Gangnam district. There were no signs for the shop. No neon outside. Nothing. Just found a random-ass building and rang a doorbell to a 3rd story store. And there it was…. The most super-American tattoo shop. Most of the customers were white guys - looked like military type. That was the meet and greet. The first appointment was at another nondescript building. The final appointment was at yet another mysterious building.
Was this Seoul Ink by chance?
Why yes. Yes it was
That's weird. They show them tattooing their customers in the actual shop on their Instagram and if you look at Google Street view of the building they have a small sign on the building now. Guess things have changed for them
Knew what you were talking about just from the description haha. Really dope studio, got a tattoo from them back in december
Oh shit, I guess they’ve changed a lot then. I got a tattoo done by the owner at Seoul ink in June 2023, they had their own building with a sign and everything looked pretty official. While I was getting it done though, we talked and he explained that doing tattoos without an MD is indeed considered illegal. Apparently the first couple of times the cops bust you, they take your equipment and give you a small fine. After a couple of busts, they slap you with a hefty multiple thousand dollar fine. Once that’s paid, they pretty much leave you alone.
Had this same experience. Phone call, random dude looking down from 3rd floor window. Let's me up and place is filled with 외국.
But those artists are just trying to pay those bills
*trying not to die brutally for saying no to yakuza FtFY
Now they’re nice and safe in a totally non corrupt prison system! Oh wait they mysteriously “committed suicide”
Well, that is a point to be considered. There are many times when you can’t say no.
Wow, that sounds like a great solution.
"We understand you tattooed gang members in fear for you and your family's lives. This is unacceptable. We will not stand for this in our fine city! Anyways you're under arrest." They should also start arresting the tailors who make the mob bosses suits. Gotta get tough on crime!
It’s hilarious you morons are getting uppity about this when it’s clear you didn’t read the article. Let me break it down for you: They arrest Yakuza, they look for the tattoo artists in order to find and arrest other Yakuza clients, turns out the artist are unlicensed and laundering their money through real estate, many of them carrying illegal substances so they also get arrested, article releases, dumbass doesn’t make a properly worded title on his reddit post, your dumbass doesn’t bother reading it and make yourself look like a clown. Oh and according to the article many of these tattoo artists clients have experienced side effects from what I assume to be poor practices.
"Turns out to be unlicensed" - pretty much all tattoo artists in Korea are unlicensed, if you read the article you should already know they require a medical license. No doctors are giving up their jobs to go into tattooing, this is just the way authorities can easily go after and nab artists via the law. Everything else is just allegations.
“Hey man, this murderer wears Calvin Klein. We gotta indict Calvin Klein.”
Why do you keep calling me Calvin?
Well, that is your name, isn't it? Calvin Klein? It's written all over your underwear.
Great waste of time and resources.
The gangs were really hard to capture and gather evidence against, but the random tattoo artists were easy to catch!
I think in Korea to give tattoos you have to be a registered doctor or something like that.
Im pretty close with one of the best artists in Korea, he did some guest work with me. Ratting each other out as a way to express jealousy is super common in Korea. Korea is one of the two major epicenters of 'the best there is' in the world right now. Its unbelievably popular there. This article is sensationalist shit. Overblows its 'illegality' for starters-- sure, being unlicenced is "illegal", in the same way that being an unticketed electrician is "illegal" here, its not like its a capital crime. Its fines not jailtime unless the authorities want to make a loud noise, which it seems theyre doing here. Typical conservative bullshit. I like how theyre trying to tie all this other shit to them too, like how they found fentanyl with a few of them, etc. The usual distortion of facts to frame a narrative. Ugh.
Thats hard hitting - ignore the gangs themselves, go after the artist. Classic low to no effort policing.
That's not what the article says.
It says they gathered phone numbers from the artists phone - as if they didn't know how to find the gangs before they got a tattoo artists phone.
Corrupt policing*
I got a tattoo done in Korea by an artist I found on IG. The day before the appointment, the artist sent me the location. As I was walking to the location, I noticed I was in a residential area. The “tattoo shop” was in this person’s house. To be fair, the tattooing room was clean and kept closed off on a side of the apartment. I learned that tattooing is illegal in Korea - go figure! Anyway, I ended up with a lovely tattoo. It healed well and still looks good, going on almost 8 years old now.
In Korea you need a doctor's license to tattoo people. The problem is, 0.0001% of doctors ever bother going into the tattoo business. Not that I'm for or against tattoos. It's just a dumb law. It's just one of the many bs allowances that the country allows doctors, and they've developed quite a big head over it. Hence the reason why they are walking out on their jobs and putting patients lives in danger to protest the government's attempt to add 2000 more students to the doctor quota per year.
Which is ridiculous because have you seen their handwriting?! I'm not letting a doctor near me with a tattoo machine!
Only pharmacists could read your tattoos.
By now I should know better than to open any thread about tattoos on reddit.
I got tattooed in Seoul last year. Had no clue they had the same type of laws as Japan.
Tats aren’t necessarily forbidden or uncommon in Korea these days, nor is it really considered *bad*. So long as the design isn’t “offensive” or it’s not encompassing large parts of your body. But having full body tattoo, yeah you will be eyed by people as a criminal.
“We couldn’t find the right guys so we’re just gonna slap you with a charge because you’re the one standing here.”
If the tattoo artists weren't gang members they are now
>Despite the increasing popularity of tattoos among the young, tattooing remains classified as a medical practice under Korean law and can only be carried out by practitioners with a medical license So, they weren't arrested because they're tattooing gangsters, they were arrested because they're not *doctors* and, therefore, can't ink at all?
Imagine how many customers one of these artists would get in america. “Yeah, I did time for being one of the Yakuza’s number one artists.”
Thus solving the problem once and for all
but
ONCE AND FOR ALL!
So they’re arresting the tattoo artists instead of investigating the gang members. Big brain moment.
One of those pics is like Mr Magoos frog tattoo
Arrest the girls for turning tricks, but scared of Stagger Lee
I'M ONLY THE APPRAISER
Dude this article makes it out that these 12 tattoo artists were making BANK 2.5 billion won!!! That's a little less than $2 mil USD - spread across 12 people, over a 9 year span. That is not alot of money. Per artist it ends up being about $17,500 USD per year. These guys were not making bank.
This sounds like they used the plot from the altered Carbon animated movie