Imagine this scenario: to get a small image tattooed on your wrist, you need to book an appointment with a certified surgeon in a white coat. It sounds like a dystopia, but for residents of South Korea, this has been a harsh reality for decades. Only in November last year did local legislation take a step towards common sense, allowing professionals without medical education to legally practice the art of body painting. Until that moment, since 1992, the country’s supreme court had equated tattooing with a medical procedure, effectively driving one of the world’s most creative industries into deep underground.