At 2 p.m. yesterday in a small park between the Samsung Life and Samsung headquarters buildings in the center of Seoul, about 50 people, mostly men in office suits, were standing and chatting. There were only a few women present; the well-dressed idlers ranged in age from their 20s to 50s.
Oh, yes: They had one other thing in common. They all were holding cigarettes. Most stood there for about five minutes, and then disappeared back into the
nearby office buildings.
On July 1, a new law went into effect; it bans smoking in office buildings with a floor area of more than 3,000 square meters (30,000 square feet) except for
designated smoking areas. Fines range from 20,000 won ($17) to 30,000 won for those caught violating the ban. Building managers who allow smoking in their
buildings outside designated areas also face fines of 100 times those amounts. And what rent-paying business tenant or building owner wants to set aside
large tracts of valuable space inside their buildings to cater to smokers instead of producing revenue?
To bolster the law's effect, many companies, including Samsung, closed down smoking areas in their buildings before the law went into effect. Restrooms,
once a haven for smokers, now are required to be smoke-free as well.
Enforcement varies, and it is not yet clear whether the law will be cheerfully ignored as time passes. But for now, many office workers are being pushed
outside their building or to the rooftop to take a few drags on their cancer sticks, even at the headquarters of the Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Corporation in
Daejeon.
To make it matters worse, the Ministry of Health and Welfare recently said it may raise cigarette prices by 1,000 won per carton.
And you wonder why so many Koreans are edgy and aggressive? World Health Organization statistics say Korea ranks first in the world in the proportion of
adult smokers: Almost seven out of Korean males use the weed, about double the rate in Germany and the Unites States. Paying a higher price for the cigarette
you have to go out in the street to smoke makes smokers grumble.
Choi Jin-soo, who works at Samsung, said he came outside to light up despite the drizzle. He says he is not worried about fines, but is afraid that he will
lose a promotion chance if he's caught smoking indoors. Is it worth standing in the rain, he was asked. "I guess so," he said resignedly,
"and I have to think about the non-smokers in the building too."
Cheer up, Mr. Choi: the harder it is to grab a smoke, the sweeter it tastes. And who knows? You may decide to quit and get promoted.
by Min Seong-jae

