The Seoul government aims to make the capital a smoke-free city by 2020 in line with the World Health Organization’s policy encouraging its members to reduce smoking.

The Seoul office plans to ban smoking in all public and multi-purpose facilities, in addition to bus stops, and restaurants and bars whose size exceeds 150 square meters, officials said.

Seoul made the announcement with Dr. Susan Mercado, team leader of the tobacco free initiative for WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, and Domilyn Villarreiz, regional director of the western Pacific region for the Framework Convention Alliance.

The city is currently hosting the conference of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Over 5,700 bus stops and 80,000 restaurants and bars in the capital will fall under Seoul’s no-smoking initiative.

Illegal cigarette advertisements will strictly be dealt with, and the Seoul office said that it would seek to raise cigarette prices as recommended by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Korea sells cigarettes at the lowest price among OECD countries, which observers said is one of reasons the country has the highest smoking rate. Korea has not raised cigarette prices since 2004 when it lifted them from 2,000 won to 2,500 won as many politicians are reluctant to increase them.

KT&G, Korea’s biggest tobacco company, and Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco are likely to further face downward pressure on their bottom line in Korea due to increasing restrictions from both the private and public sectors, analysts said.

Seoul is looking to lower the country’s male smoking rate of 44.2 percent, the highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, to 29 percent by 2020.

Also, Seoul officials said that it will move to revise and implement a law that strictly forbids selling cigarettes near and within school zones as part of efforts to decrease the rate of smoking among teenagers to 10 percent by 2020, from 12 percent, also the highest in the OECD.

This revised law would include restrictions against selling cigarettes at grocery stores and supermarkets similar to the law London is implementing to keep them out of reach of teenagers.

By Park Hyong-ki
(hkp@heraldcorp.com)