SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan is stepping out to revise an all-out ban on smoking for the first time in 27 years to reflect the basic rights of all service members.
The boot camp has been undergoing a trial period to allow service members in two training battalions to smoke since late last month.
The smoking ban was introduced in 1995 to reflect the social trend against smoking, banning service members from smoking during the five weeks of boot camp training.
Other divisional boot camps, however, have been allowing cigarettes, sparking controversy over fairness.
Allowing service members to smoke may come at the expense of non-smoking personnel, which is expected to add to the controversy.
Image Credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com