Appeal court acquits nonmedical eyebrow tattooist after Supreme Court ruling

A South Korean appeals court has overturned the conviction of a nonmedical practitioner who performed eyebrow tattoos, ruling that the procedures fell within ordinary cosmetic tattooing.

The Gwangju District Court’s Criminal Division 3 overturned the original judgment and acquitted the defendant, identified as A, in a decision announced on Sept. 1. A had been prosecuted under the Act on Special Measures for the Control of Public Health Crimes.

The decision followed a ruling by the Supreme Court’s en banc panel in May. The Supreme Court found that ordinary cosmetic tattooing by nonmedical practitioners does not amount to unlicensed medical practice under the Medical Service Act.

The appeals court acknowledged that A had tattooed customers at a business operated in Seo-gu, Gwangju. But it said the conduct did not constitute the medical practice prohibited under Article 27, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Service Act, and found that the lower court had misunderstood the applicable law.

Prosecutors alleged that A operated the tattoo business from October 2020 through July 2022, performing eyebrow tattoos for 950 customers and charging between 150,000 won and 280,000 won per person.

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The fact that the defendant performed eyebrow tattoo procedures on customers at a business he operated is acknowledged, but this constitutes ordinary cosmetic tattooing and does not amount to medical practice prohibited under Article 27, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Service Act. The original judgment contains an error in the application of the law.