Court rejects smoking lawsuits

A Seoul lower court yesterday rejected a 7-year-old civil suit filed against tobacco company KT&G Corp. by cancer patients and their families, citing a lack of evidence.

The court dismissed a claim by a family that the company was to blame for the lung cancer that killed a family member. The court also turned down a class action suit by six lung cancer patients and their family members.

"There is no evidence to prove that the lung and laryngeal cancers of the plaintiffs are directly caused by smoking," said Judge Cho Kyung-ran.

The judge admitted a correlation between smoking and the plaintiffs` illnesses, but said there was no evidence to prove that KT&G did not warn consumers properly about the dangers of nicotine addiction.

"While the court accepts the cause and effect of smoking and cancer, there is no evidence that shows fault with the cigarettes made and sold by the defendant in terms of their manufacture, design and labeling," Cho said.

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KT&G shares rose 0.7 percent to close at 57,200 won yesterday.

Korea`s first-ever smoking-related lawsuit was brought against KT&G in September 1999 by Kim Ahn-bu, now deceased, who died of lung cancer four days later. He sought 100 million won ($110,000) in compensation for his illness.

In a separate case, Kim Soo-man, a lung cancer sufferer, and 30 other people filed a tobacco liability suit in December 1999, demanding 300 million won in compensation.

Plaintiffs and legal representatives argued that 30 years of smoking was the main cause of their cancer, and that the government managed its tobacco business with the sole motive of increasing revenues.

"This is very disappointing. This verdict means that the judiciary only protects harmful companies," said Bae Keum-ja, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "There is a direct medical correlation between smoking and cancer. We will appeal."

Citing the example of American tobacco giant Philip Morris USA, which provides information on its website about cancer and cigarettes, Bae said KT&G was careless in warning its consumers about the dangers of smoking.

"These are people who have smoked since the 1960s, and the company only started printing warnings in 1989. We think the government and KT&G are responsible at least for the 30 years when consumers were not properly advised about the dangers," Bae said.

Meanwhile, KT&G argued that the plaintiffs could have quit smoking, but chose not to do so.

"The court has ruled wisely," said Park Ghyo-sun, an attorney for KT&G. "There are other elements that might cause cancer, such as environmental, physiological and professional factors.

There is no direct cause between smoking and lung cancer."

Two other suits against the government and KT&G were filed in December 2004 and May 2005, demanding 750 million won and 100 million won respectively. They are still pending.

(aibang@heraldm.com)



By Annie I. Bang