Photo Credits: Duffel Bag Spouse. A massage session is one of the most popular and integral parts of South Korean culture as it is highly believed to be of great benefit to their health and general well-being, and it is also a way of relaxing their bodies.
One can never go wrong with a body massage, especially in South Korea, which is popular for its beauty and appearance and is also the world's beauty capital. Having a traditional South Korean bath or spa session is a wish list for almost every foreigner who finds his way into South Korea in recent times, unlike a few years back when massage was viewed as a negative activity associated with illegal sexual service providers or as a treatment best reserved for the rich and elite class amongst them.
Currently, having a massage in South Korea is an accepted health service. It has grown to become one of the most encouraged and welcomed ways of relieving stress and body pain for people who have an interest in a sedentary lifestyle and can afford the service. Due to this growing trend in massage services, massage shops and spas have become rampant, and they can easily be spotted on the streets of Seoul, South Korea, and other urban cities, delivering services such as foot to aroma, acupuncture, and Thai massage.
The estimated number of massage shops in South Korea is 50,, and over , people are gainfully employed in the industry. Although not many people know this, it is illegal to get a massage from a person who isn't considered legally blind. According to Article 82 of the Medical Art , only people who are recognized to have vision impairments can be issued the license that is necessary to work as a masseuse or masseur.
Besides the visually impaired, those who are nationally certified massage professionals can also be issued the required license. This law became prevalent after the Second World War when most visually impaired people lost their licenses as healers due to the revocation of the law by the Ministry of Health in Due to this, most of them resorted to chanting scriptures and telling fortunes to earn a living. The Ministry of Social Affairs later banned this in Many blind Koreans kept up the fight to regain their licenses as healers.
