Legality of hairdressers’ visit to Park in question

Questions are arising over whether it was lawful for hairdressers to visit former President Park Geun-hye’s private residence in southern Seoul to do her hair and make-up.

Critics argue that the visit could be a violation of the Public Health Control Act stipulating that hairdressers or makeup artists cannot offer beauty treatment outside their registered beauty salons.

After the ousted head of state left Cheong Wa Dae and moved to her private house in Samseongdong, Sunday, two hairdressers, who are sisters, have been seen visiting the house every day at about 7:30 a.m. and staying there for about an hour.

The elder sister, who runs the Tony & Guy hair salon in Cheongdam-dong, has been in charge of Park’s hair and the younger one, in charge of make-up, for years while Park was in office.

One the day of the Sewol ferry sinking on April 16, 2014, Park had her hair styled by the elder sister at the presidential office, which provoked severe criticism for having wasted crucial hours in the state of emergency.

The law has some exceptions that allow beauty treatment services to be offered outside of salons — when a customer is not able to visit a salon due to a disease, when a customer needs to attend a wedding or other ceremonies, when a customer needs to appear in broadcast shootings, and other situations recognized by mayors or governors.

Critics argue that Park’s case seems to not be included in any of these exceptions, so the hairdressers’ visit to her private house would be illegal, which could make them subject to 2 million won in fines. If they are offering the service for free, it would not be illegal, but from a common-sense point of view, offering such a service for free is unlikely.