First time visitors in South Korea looking for a home massage service provider should use the Korean text 홈타이 찾아보기, which translates as “find a home tie or home Thai massage. Better yet, and to make the search process easier and faster, find one through a Korean website called Everybody’s Home Tie (모두의홈타이), which contains useful and reliable information on where to find the best providers
of Home Tie or Home Service Massage.
Actually, many are not aware that in South Korea there’s an old law that prohibits persons not legally blind to render massage services in exchange for fees. Under Article 82 of the Medical Act, a person who is not legally blind cannot perform massage services in exchange for compensation.
There is no concrete report providing accurate information about the number of massage parlors operating in SoKor. While many say there are more than 100,000 massage businesses existing nationwide, a great number are operating illicitly. Unfortunately, they are providers of scam massage services performed by sex workers.
That being the case, operators of legitimate on-site massage services make it a point not to brand or advertise their establishment as a massage shop or parlor. Usually, they market their business as a spa or a clinic for herbal treatments, while offering Business Trip Thai or Korean Home Tie when requested.
Understanding the History of the Massage Industry in South Korea
The law giving the visually impaired people monopoly on rendering massage services, was actually put in place during Japan’s occupation of Korea sometime in the early 1900s.
Among the changes that the Japanese governor-general imposed was the sweeping eradication of all traditional Korean practices associated with superstitious beliefs. The changes primarily affected specifically the chanting of the sacred Daoist texts performed by visually impaired people on behalf of those seeking blessings.
To not deprive legally blind Korean people of a means of livelihood, Korea-based Japanese authorities launched programs that trained legally blind Koreans how to massage and apply acupuncture and herbal treatments on specific pressure points. Graduates of the training programs were given special permission to practice a profession recognized as medical.
After Japan lost to the allied forces of World War II, Japan exited Korea. The US military moved in to help the people of the Korean peninsula rebuild their government and their economic conditions.
In 1946, the American Ministry of Health revoked the medical license of blind healers and therapists. That was in view of the contention that the training and education received by the blind healers were insufficient to merit the dispensation of a medical license.
However, as the blind therapists were bereft of means of livelihood, they went back to their former business of telling fortunes and reading sacred scriptures. This led the Korean Ministry of Social Affairs to impose a renewal of the Japanese ban on healing practices based on superstitious beliefs.
In 1963, the visually impaired Korean citizens who persisted in regaining their right to heal were able to achieve their goal. The established Korean government revised the medical code to give the legally blind people the sole right to practice massage therapy as a profession.
Since it denoted that non-blind masseurs and masseuses are not licensed to professionally render massage services in Korea, it’s not easy to find a reputable home tie massage provider without the help of a third party intermediary like Everybody’s Home Tie.