I have a large dragon with its tail encircling a yin-yang symbol tattooed on the inside of my right forearm. At the Mr. Seoul contest a few weeks back, I got a big disapproving look from one of the officials during the check-in process when he saw it. This was not unexpected. Because of its Confucian heritage and the tradition of filial piety, Korea looks askance at tattoos or any other form of body modification, since they are considered a violation of the precious gift of the body given to you by your parents. Until the late 19th century, e.g., no one ever cut their hair, except Buddhist monks (who were considered pariahs anyway during the 500 year political hegemony of the neo-Confucians). When I first got here 20 years ago, and still occasionally these days, I have been refused admittance to public bath houses and spas because of it. It doesn't help that tattoos also are associated in modern times with various groups of social outcasts, especially "gang-pae", the Korean version of yakuza; when my brother-in-law, who ia a colonel in the National Police found out I had one, it took my wife a lot of effort to convince him that I wasn't some sort of mob lawyer on the lam in Korea. Although conventions are changing - some kids these days get temporary tattoos and there are a small number of actual tattoo shops that have emerged from the shadows of the demi-monde - it's still considered negatively and as marking you out as someone who isn't prepared to play by the (social) rules - which is a big no-no in Korea, which is very collectivist (suffocatingly so when one first gets immersed in the culture) in its attitudes and behaviours (e.g. I no longer speak of "my" daughter but "our" daughter when talking to other Koreans, and my daughter refers to me as "our" honorable father). At the contest, I half-expected to get a lecture from the disapproving official, but my status as a foreigner - plus the fact that I was at least 20 years older than him - apparently made him reticent to speak up - the amount of respect you get here if you are a foreigner (at least a seemingly "respectable one", i.e., not just a callow young English teacher), especially if you know Korean, AND if you are older - it just is not dome to speak anything but highly politely (there are even special verb tenses and, in some cases, different forms of words, to be used to those older or socially superior to oneself) - is really astonishing. In the end , it made no difference at all in the judging.

I also second the last point made by Burly. I got my tattoo while on R&R in Bangkok in 1970 before my second "tour" of the Vietnamese Central Highlands. Needless to say, I was less than completely sober and otherwise full of piss and vinegar. I don't regret it - regret is a waste of time and energy - but I have found it tiresome sometimes to have to put in the extra effort to get past the issues it sometimes causes for other people with whom I have had or wanted to interact. Unless you are part of a group that simply accepts it and/or are willing to make the extra effort needed sometimes to convince others that you don't have the attitudes and demeanor that some people associate with tattoos, then don't. I understand that these days, political correctness also has driven even the military to enforce restrictions on tattoos.