Global tobacco firms target Korean women

International tobacco companies have waged aggressive marketing campaigns in Korea to lure the country`s female smokers, much like they did in Europe and the United States in the 1920s, reports said yesterday.

According to a research finding published in the journal Globalization and Health, transnational tobacco companies have been promoting events and running ads in Korea by linking the image of smoking with the liberation and social success of women.

"Product design associating smoking with body image and female emancipation, familiarly deployed elsewhere, has been extensively used in South Korea to appeal to female smokers," Kelley Lee, the leader of the research team at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, was quoted as saying by Globalization and Health.

Lee was in charge of analyzing internal documents from various companies present on the Korean market, the journal added.

The research found that so-called "ultra light," "low tar" and "superslim" cigarettes have been particularly successful, falsely suggesting that certain brands provide healthier or safer option.

Though the Korean government has forbidden tobacco advertising marketed directly to women and children since 1989, the companies found ways to promote brands within the boundaries of the law, including by distributing free cigarettes at cafes and night clubs.

Smoking rates among women in certain age groups have risen in the past 20 years in Korea, the study found. The local cigarette market was opened to the world in 1988.

Researchers in the report said that the Korean government needs to tighten restrictions and educate the public on the facts about smoking.

"The implementation of comprehensive tobacco control measures in South Korea, as set out under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is urgently needed to protect and promote the health of Korean women and girls," Lee said.

By Cho Chung-un



(christory@heraldm.com)