SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) – A smoker fined for lighting up in a designated non-smoking area has failed in a constitutional challenge after the country’s highest courts upheld the citation, ruling that public health interests outweigh individual freedom to smoke outdoors. On April 25, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed a petition filed by a [...]
GWANGJU, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Gwangju’s Dong District said Tuesday that LED non-smoking signs powered by solar panels have been installed in five locations throughout the city’s parks. The signs autonomously generate electricity during the day using the solar panels, power that is used to light up the anti-smoking signs at night. Among 26 [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) – In an unusually tough anti-smoking move, one of Seoul’s main boulevards will be declared a no-smoking zone and violators will face fines, officials said Wednesday. Seoul’s Seocho-gu Ward Office said Gangnam-daero, a 5-kilometer-long major boulevard that cuts through the busy commercial district of Gangnam in southern Seoul, and its sidewalks [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) - Smoking will be forbidden within 10 meters of subway exits starting in April 2016. Once the revised bill on preventing second-hand smoke passes, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will designate 1,662 subway exits and five streets that have over eight lanes as non-smoking areas. Furthermore, penalties that used to range from [...]
Seoul, July 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Following a price hike and the expansion of non-smoking areas early this year, the smoking rate among adult males has dropped by six percent. As the smoking rate decreased, the consumption of tobacco showed a drastic decline, but because of the higher prices, income from cigarettes increased. The Ministry of [...]
SEOUL, Sep. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – As the government is preparing to raise the cigarette price by 80 percent to 4,500 won (US$4.39), a survey said one out of three smokers said they are willing to quit if the cigarette price indeed rises this time. According to the Ministry of Health & Welfare and the [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Sep 17 (Korea Bizwire) – More than a half of Koreans are in favor of a proposal to raise the cigarette price by 2,000 won. According to Gallup Korea data on September 16 based on a survey on 1,211 adults asking about their attitude toward smoking and smokers, 52 percent of respondents said [...]