Why is a hairdresser license needed to run a nail salon?

A small nail salon named Casabelle located within a large retail store in western Seoul has colorful manicures on one side. A beautician license is also posted on the left side of the entrance.

A guest asks if hair styling is also possible and the shop owner says, "We have to have the license to open a nail salon. I got it but it`s of no use that I almost forgot hair-styling skills. I wonder why a beautician license mainly for hairdressing is needed to do nails." Three other nail stylists also have the license.

According to laws on public health management, beauty treatment includes not only a permanent, haircut, hair styling, bleaching, washing and eyebrow trimming but also makeup, manicure and pedicure. To become a nail technician, graduation from a beauty-related college or a beautician license is required.

The salon owner obtained a beautician license in 2010. To get the license, she worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and then studied doing perms, bleaching and cut techniques at home. More than 3 million won (2,839 U.S. dollars) of her money went to buy textbooks and pay for exam fees. She had to bite the bullet but the skills she learned were useless in nail styling. "I spent six months and an awful lot of money to get this useless license," she said.

Nail salons have been shut down for violating the law. A nail salon in Busan that had been open for eight years was caught in a crackdown and had to close for good. The owner and two employees had no beautician license. The owner said, "It was unfair for us to pay penalty for not having a beautician license that has nothing to do with nail care."

"Certain nail salon owners with no licenses have licensed people posing as the owners to avoid being forced to close due to a crackdown," she added.

jjy2011@donga.com