South Korea to ban smoking in public places from 2011

2009/12/09

SEOUL: South Korea will ban all indoor and outdoor smoking in public places starting in 2011, to substantially reduce the country's smoking rate, the government said Wednesday, reports Yonhap news agency.

The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said the move aims to bring down the smoking rate among men in the country from 47 percent at present to 20 percent in the target year.

Seoul has prohibited smoking in large buildings for several years but has not taken similar steps for outdoor smoking even in areas where large numbers of people gather.

Smoking has been cited for causing various forms of cancer and other life-threatening diseases, and could put a strain on the economy by causing a rise in medical outlays down the line.

Secondhand smoke is also a problem as it endangers the health of non-smokers, according to Yonhap.

The ministry added it will take measures to allow regional governments to implement anti-smoking policies to make it more difficult for people to smoke in public places, and push forward a concerted campaign at schools and military installations across the country to get people to stop buying cigarettes.

Despite some reduction in the number of smokers among the general population, the number of students and soldiers who smoke has not gone down.

It said posters and pictures highlighting the health risks associated with smoking will be placed on cigarette cases, with support to be offered to companies that implement programs to get workers to quit smoking.
-- BERNAMA
Read

---

12/21/2005
By TAKESHI KAMIYA, The Asahi Shimbun

SEOUL--While many cafes worldwide go smoke-free or set up Internet access for their customers, many establishments in South Korea are taking a different approach.

Some have scrapped their non-smoking sections, while others charge female students and women to rent frilly dresses so they can take pictures of each other.

The so-called dress cafes, especially, are becoming very popular. Customers are given a choice of costume--wedding dress, cocktail dress, you name it--and are given a quick makeup session, after which they are all set for a cell- phone photo shoot. They can even enjoy a cup of coffee while they wait.

About a dozen of these makeover cafes are already up and running in Seoul, attracting women from across the generation gap.

One such cafe, said to be the first of its kind in Seoul, is located near the prestigious Ewha Women's University.

The cafe has been open for a year, and appears from the outside like any other coffee shop.

But once inside, a visitor is greeted by flowers, pink pillows and other feminine decor.

One recent afternoon, three young senior high school students could be found at a table, sipping coffee, waiting their turn. When the time came, they slipped into the costume room, basically a space blocked off by a thick curtain.

Ten minutes later, they reappeared, transformed: One wore a cocktail dress, the other two wore wedding dresses. All three had had their makeup reapplied.

The girls then began taking photos of each other with their mobile phones, posing from angles they thought they looked best.

"I feel like a princess," said Yu Kum Sin, 16. "And I would like to get married."

It costs between 2,000 and 10,000 won (about 230 to 1,160 yen) to rent a dress for half an hour.

Song Hye Won, 44, is another woman who came by the cafe for a half-hour makeover.

Song's 20-year-old daughter, Choi Yu Hui, had asked her to come with her to the cafe for Song's 21st wedding anniversary.

Together, they tried on wedding dresses.

"At first, I thought it would be embarrassing," Song said. "But once I wore it, I felt great. It's like a catharsis."

"I feel like the mother I'm now with is a young woman in her college days," said her daughter.

The wedding-dress photos are likely as not to go up on personal Web pages, which is just fine by cafe owner Im Si Ne, 29: "I don't have to spend money on advertising the cafe."

A Hong Kong-based travel agency brought a group of 30 tourists to the cafe recently, and the cafe is popular with Japanese students and tourists as well.

Another popular type of cafe is the so-called smoking cafe: basically a coffee shop where smokers are not required to be considerate to non-smokers.

One such cafe opened in July in the fashionable Apgujeong-Cheongdamdong district. The cafe is brightly lit, and, say shop staff, relatively free of smoke.

"Thanks to the three powerful air cleaners, smoke flows straight up and is immediately absorbed into the ceiling. The air in this cafe is cleaner than that in conventional shops," said an employee.

Ban Chung Yeon, 23, said he was satisfied with the cafe.

"In this cafe, we don't have to go to a 'smoking area' in a corner," Ban said while having a chat and a smoke with his girlfriend. "We can smoke in a spacious room. I feel good.

"Even women who do not smoke can spend time here," he added.

There are two more "smoking cafes" nearby.

Part of the popularity of the new cafes can be chalked up to South Korea's deeply rooted smoking culture.

The smoking rate among male South Koreans was 61.8 percent in 2001, the highest among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

South Koreans take smoking for granted to the extent that they often take cigarettes from their friends without asking permission.

"By smoking together, it often brings us closer," Ban said.(IHT/Asahi: December 21,2005)
Read