[WHY] Gettin' ciggy with it: The burning question of where to smoke in Seoul

Smokers dispose of their cigarette butts at a smoking zone in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Aug. 14. [NEWS1]

 
On a typical weekday afternoon behind the bushes nestled between Seoul’s IFC Mall and the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido; a cluster of heads that could easily number in the dozens rises above the foliage. A closer look reveals thick clouds of smoke hanging over the area, forming a natural barricade that nonsmokers instinctively avoid to escape exposure.
 
The peak time is during lunch hour, when there are so many people that easily over 30 could be crammed into that bush spot — if you visit there often enough, you’d see the mall’s security guards asking people to stay within the smoking zone despite a complete lack of space.
 
It is one of the go-to spots for white collar smokers to habitually take a puff around the clock. Often referred to as Korea’s Wall Street, Yeouido is a major hub for investment firms, banks and major companies as well as the heart of national politics in the country, housing the National Assembly building.
 
The area, outfitted with a few trash cans with cigarette butt receptacles, is one of the rare privately managed smoking zones in the city. Besides several booths managed by the buildings, Yeouido, spanning 4.5 square kilometers (1.74 square miles), only has 10 official smoking facilities run by the Yeongdeungpo District Office.
 
The figure may seem somewhat evenly distributed given the area, but the district maintains a disproportionate amount of the 118 smoking facilities in the capital, based on 2023 data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
 
As of January, Seoul has some 300,000 nonsmoking areas, up from 79,000 in 2012, due to policies aimed at creating smoking-free environments. With only 118 designated smoking facilities, this leaves roughly 2 million estimated smokers, according to 2023 data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, with minimal options — around 16,949 smokers per facility.
 
So, do these 2 million smokers actually comply and restrict themselves to the few designated smoking areas?

Smokers smoke outside the designated area due to lack of space in downtown Seoul on May 31, 2023. [NEWS1]

Smokers on the streets
The answer would be a big fat no. Despite government efforts to curb smoking and increase nonsmoking zones, many smokers disregard these rules due to a perceived lack of designated smoking zones, especially in areas with high foot traffic such as Hongdae, Euljiro, Yeouido, Jamsil, Yeoksam-dong, Myeong-dong and Itaewon, where you’re likely to find smokers huddled in every nook and cranny of the streets.
 
“Hey fellow Koreans and foreigners living in Korea,” wrote an online poster who introduced himself as a smoker who would be taking a trip to Korea. “I read somewhere that smoking in Korea is only allowed in certain places like alleys or smoking booths. On the other hand I saw videos where Koreans smoke beside a regular street. Have things changed?”
 
Many of the comments assured the poster that they haven't, advising him to follow the locals or look out for a concentration of cigarette butts on the ground.
 
“Not near the subway entrances,” one comment wrote. “I was at Nambu Bus Terminal Station and one guy was caught smoking by a district guy and was fined.”
 
Another commenter even recommended the poster look for a bench or seating area with a “No Smoking” sign, such as a park or playground, to smoke.
 
“That’s what people in my neighborhood do,” they wrote.
 
A 31-year-old named Kim Ye-won is a nonsmoker who believes the city sorely lacks smoking facilities.
 
“I believe there still aren’t enough smoking booths, which is why people continue to smoke on the streets, posing a risk of secondhand smoke,” she said. “Increasing the number of smoking booths at every subway station could help.
 
“Plus, stronger enforcement of fines for smoking outside designated areas could also be beneficial.”

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Smoking is a culture
Laura Aparicio, a 25-year-old from Colombia, says she was “very impressed” by the frequency with which people smoke in Korea. In her country, there’s a stronger aversion to smoking than in Korea, where smokers go out for a cigarette as a habit.
 
Smoking is a multifaceted problem that impacts not just public health and the environment, but society and the culture as well. While increasing the number of smoking zones could help, it would not solve the underlying issue, in Aparicio's view.
 
“Many people in the working age group use cigarettes as an opportunity or an excuse to go outside for fresh air and to de-stress,” she said. “In this sense, designated spaces may not be very attractive to them.
 
“Additionally, many times people smoke and drink at the same time, making it inconvenient for them to continually move to designated spaces, which clearly won’t be found at every bar or restaurant.”

 
There even exists a slang phrase in Korean: "gilbbang," an acronym referring to the act of smoking in the middle of the street or smoking while walking and exposing nonsmokers to secondhand smoke, that generally has a negative connotation.
 
However, whether smoking in Korea would serve as a culture shock for foreigners may vary depending on where they're from. In Europe, countries such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia have "weak" compliance with smoking laws and no bans on smoking in outdoor spaces, according to a BBC report in August.
 
Other countries, such as Mexico, have some of the strictest antismoking laws in the world, banning the act in all public spaces such as beaches, parks and hotels. Canada, for its part, is loftily aiming to reduce tobacco use to less than 5 percent by 2035 and was one of the first countries to mandate that health warnings be printed on individual cigarettes.
 
The OECD average rate of people aged 15 and over who smoked tobacco daily was 15.9 percent per 2021 data, with Korea scoring slightly below the average with 15.4 percent.
 
Thirty-five-year-old Jung Bong-jin even feels that smoking in groups is unfair when he’s working.
 
“When there are many smokers in the workplace, they often go out for these smoke breaks,” he said. “If a conversation or meeting is interrupted by a smoke break, nonsmokers sometimes have to follow the smokers outside to continue the discussion. If they don’t, decisions might be made among the smokers while they’re outside, leaving nonsmokers excluded. As a nonsmoker, I feel this is really unfair.”




Should there be more smoking booths?
There are 25 districts in Seoul, but more than half do not have any facilities for smoking.
 
Rather, the government has been on the move to expand nonsmoking areas.
 
As of August, the size of nonsmoking areas, previously a 10-meter radius from existing day care centers and kindergarten facilities, has been extended to 30 meters. Additionally, the smoking ban was expanded to a 30-meter radius from elementary, middle and high school facilities.
 

A banner notifying extended non-smoking areas hangs in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Aug. 19. [NEWS1]

 
Over the past four years, more than 360,000 violations for smoking in nonsmoking areas were recorded nationwide, according to data from the Korea Health Promotion Institute submitted by Democratic Party Rep. Nam In-soon in a parliamentary audit last month. In 2023, smoking in those areas saw an increase of some 80 percent from 2020, with around 370 incidents daily.
 
Smokers spotted in nonsmoking areas could be slapped with a fine of up to 100,000 won ($72.50) if caught, and even up to 5 million won in locations where dangerous goods are stored or used, such as gas stations, under a new penalty that went into effect in August.
 
Fines issued for violations rose from 38,253 cases in 2020 to 52,219 cases in 2023, a 36.5 percent increase, while cases receiving warnings or guidance jumped 124 percent to 83,507 during the same period. Rep. Nam expressed concern over this trend, especially as nonsmoking zones aim to protect nonsmokers, particularly children and the elderly. Violations in areas frequented by children, such as day care centers and kindergartens, rose 110 percent from 25,154 in 2020 to 52,755 in 2023.
 

A sign warning against smoking was displayed at a gas station in downtown Seoul on July 30. Under the revised regulation that took effect in August, individuals caught smoking in areas where hazardous materials are stored or used, such as gas stations, can face fines of up to 5 million won. [YONHAP]

 
“The current National Health Promotion Act includes provisions for designating nonsmoking areas but does not address the installation of smoking areas,” said Park Sang-ryun, representative of the Smokers Human Rights Alliance (SHRA), a nonprofit organization representing smokers’ rights to benefit from the taxes paid in tobacco purchases. One of the association’s main stances is advocating for an expansion of smoking areas using tobacco tax funds.
 
“This essentially implies that areas outside of nonsmoking zones can be interpreted as smoking areas by default.”
 
Eastern Seoul’s Seongdong District is praised for its increasing installation of smart smoking booths, which, unlike the majority of Seoul’s open-roof smoking spots, are enclosed spaces that are equipped with air purification systems and ashtrays that automatically extinguish and shred cigarette butts.
 
The district was the first among Korea to install such a booth in November 2022, continuing to add a total of nine by the first half of this year, with plans to add four more this year.
 
The responsibility to build and maintain smoking zones is left to each district, giving the city’s metropolitan government very little room to control the overall effectiveness of smoking regulations, and ultimately creates inconsistencies in public health efforts across the region.
 

Seongdong District plans to install and operate a total of 14 smart smoking booths until this year. [SEONGDONG DISTRICT OFFICE]

 
“It takes about 20 to 30 million won alone just to operate one smart booth like those of Seongdong District,” said a spokesperson of the health management division of the Seoul Metropolitan Government who wished to remain anonymous. “That’s doesn’t come off as cheap. We cannot just request each district to take on that kind of financial burden.
 
“There is currently no set plan for the city to install a specific number of additional booths,” she continued. “Detailed standards for installing new booths are also not strictly defined by the law. The basic principle is that policies related to smoking are aimed at reducing smoking, so there is a ‘recommendation’ for minimal installation.”
 
Even if districts do want to build new booths, the "not in my backyard" attitude emerges among neighborhood store owners and residents.
 
Park Jeong-eun, leader of the zero-waste team at the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements, acknowledges the concerns raised by smokers in Seoul about the need for more facilities. However, she emphasizes that these improvements must be accompanied by increased civic awareness.
 
If establishing smoking areas proves to be too challenging, publicly managed ashtrays on the streets could serve as the next-best solution to the shortage of disposal options.
 
“People need to realize that they should not dispose cigarette butts anywhere but instead in designated smoking areas where they can be properly managed,” Park said.
 
“It would seem that we need to change the overall social culture regarding this,” she continued. “Currently, there is a waste disposal fee of about 24.4 won per pack for cigarette waste. Since this is already a cost associated with cigarette waste, it would be beneficial to use that as a basis to pay for public ashtrays and public smoking areas and promote a cultural policy that helps people recognize that smoking more in those spaces is the right way. I believe such initiatives need to go hand in hand.”
 
SHRA representative Park believes that despite the government's efforts with antismoking regulations, it has failed to tackle the crux of the issue.
 
"Governmental policies to restrict smoking have reduced the number of smoking areas, but they have not been effective in curbing the act of smoking itself, creating a situation where the rights of both smokers and nonsmokers are compromised," he said. "Therefore, we need more designated smoking areas to balance health concerns with individual rights and promote a more harmonious coexistence."

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]