Black box footage at the time released by driver A. Photo by online community 'BobaeDream' screen capture.
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] A controversy has arisen after a police officer, who misjudged a traffic signal violation, pointed out a female driver's wrist tattoo.
Recently, on the car-related online community 'Bobae Dream,' a post titled "A traffic police officer said they would arrest me because of a small tattoo on my wrist. What should I do?" was uploaded.
According to the post, female driver Ms. A was driving near Changsin Station on Subway Line 6 in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 22nd when a traffic police officer instructed her to stop her car. The officer claimed she had violated a traffic signal and said she would be fined.
However, after checking the black box footage at the scene, it was concluded that although Ms. A drove while the traffic light was yellow, she did not commit a signal violation.
Despite this, the police did not let Ms. A go and, upon seeing her tattoo, reportedly said that "tattoos are illegal and can be regulated." Ms. A had a 7cm cat tattoo on her right wrist.
Ms. A revealed, "The police said tattoos are illegal and threatened to take me to the police station." When I asked if they were joking, they said, "The tattoo was threatening," and again threatened to detain me. It was truly absurd," she said.
Under the Minor Offenses Act, intentionally exposing tattoos in public facilities to cause disgust can result in a fine of up to 100,000 won, detention, or a penalty. However, since Ms. A was inside a car, which is not a public facility, this law does not apply.
Meanwhile, the police involved in the complaint reportedly stated that they "will be careful to prevent similar incidents from happening again."
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