Symposium on Smoking and Lung Cancer, Spotlight on Tobacco Lawsuits. (Image courtesy of the Korea Medical Bio Journalists Association)
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) — As South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) prepares for the final appeal hearing in its landmark ₩53.3 billion ($39 million) lawsuit against tobacco companies, a new survey shows that nearly two-thirds of Koreans believe cigarette makers should be held financially responsible for medical costs linked to lung cancer.
The findings were released Thursday during a symposium hosted by the Korean Medical Bio Journalists Association and the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases.
The event, titled “Smoking and Lung Cancer: Spotlight on the Tobacco Lawsuit,” comes ahead of the May 22 closing arguments in the NHIS’s long-running litigation against KT&G, Philip Morris Korea, and BAT Korea.
The NHIS is seeking to recoup healthcare costs incurred for 3,465 lung and laryngeal cancer patients with smoking histories of at least 20 pack-years or 30 years. The agency argues that tobacco companies should cover a portion of these expenses due to the well-established link between smoking and cancer.
According to a nationwide online survey conducted from March 27 to April 15 among 1,209 adults, 63.7% of respondents supported the idea that tobacco firms should bear some or all medical costs for smoking-related illnesses.
Interestingly, current smokers showed the highest level of support, with 72.5% agreeing, compared to 59.8% of non-smokers and 68% of former smokers.
Awareness of the lawsuit was moderate: 45.9% said they were familiar with it, including 22.5% of smokers who claimed detailed knowledge—far more than among non-smokers (7.8%).
A view of a designated smoking area in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)
The survey also reaffirmed broad public recognition of the dangers of smoking. Nine in ten respondents acknowledged that smoking causes lung cancer, and nearly half of non-smokers and former smokers said it raises the risk tenfold. Smokers were more cautious, with 38.5% acknowledging the same level of risk.
Regarding addiction, 70.4% of non-smokers, 66.1% of former smokers, and 62.8% of smokers agreed that cigarettes are “highly addictive.” Concerns about secondhand smoke were also higher among non-smokers and former smokers (around 63%) than among current smokers (50%).
At the symposium, experts emphasized the scientific consensus around smoking and cancer. Dr. Chun Eun-mi, a pulmonologist at Ewha Womans University, reiterated that carcinogens in cigarettes—such as benzopyrene and nitrosamines—trigger genetic mutations leading to cancer, with the World Health Organization citing a cancer risk up to 30 times higher for smokers.
Legal experts argued that while South Korean courts have not yet recognized a direct causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer in the same way that U.S. and Canadian courts have, this case may prove different.
“This time, we’ve taken a more rigorous approach in selecting plaintiffs and assembling expert testimony,” said Lim Hyun-jung, legal counsel for the NHIS. “We’re cautiously optimistic about a different outcome compared to previous rulings.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
