Hosan University's Department of Beauty Smart Care signed an MOU with the Korea Tattoo Artists Central Association on Wednesday to promote industry-academia cooperation and develop skilled professionals in the field.
The signing comes ahead of the Tattoo Artists Act, scheduled to take effect next October, which will establish licensing requirements for tattoo practitioners, mandatory professional education, and hygiene and safety management standards.
Once in effect, the law is expected to rapidly reshape the tattoo industry — moving it away from its traditional reliance on craft-based skills and toward a high-value professional sector grounded in systematic education, formal qualifications and safety management systems.
The two institutions signed the MOU to respond proactively to those regulatory changes by building a structured pipeline of field-ready professionals and creating a framework that links education with industry.
Under the agreement, the two institutions will jointly pursue community development and industry-academia projects, co-develop and promote educational and research programs, support faculty entrepreneurship and research activities, operate lifelong learning and field-study programs for local residents, and collaborate on other initiatives for their mutual development.
Eom Su-jeong, head of Hosan University's Department of Beauty Smart Care, said it was highly meaningful for universities and industry to proactively build an educational framework ahead of the Tattoo Artists Act's implementation. "We will strengthen field-centered education so that students can actively adapt to the changing regulatory and industry environment, and do our utmost to cultivate the professional talent that will lead the K-beauty industry," she said.
Im Bo-ran, president of the Korea Tattoo Artists Central Association, said the partnership with Hosan University would help train professionals with the safety expertise and technical proficiency the field demands. "We will work together to build a standard education and industry-academia cooperation model in step with the new regulatory regime," she said.
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