Korean Job Discussion Forums

[irwinpryce]

Hey,
Im a smoker, cough cough, about to die etc.
What are the regualtions and laws regarding smoking in South Korea?
Can you smoke in cafes, pubs, nightclubs etc?
Can you smoke on the streets in downtown?
Have you noticed anything strange about smoking in South Korea, e.g. do people smoke in uunusual places, or are they not allowed to smoke in places you would expect?
Thanks

[tyleranthony]

rules? ha... people smoke almost everywhere. id say 98% of restaurants (i've been to) allow smoking, and the places that do have "rules"...the adjosshis just take them as a suggestion, and rarely follow them. the only place i'd advise not smoking is on public transportation. you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

[maeil]

If you're a guy, smoke wherever you damn well please.

If you're a girl, you're expected to smoke only indoors. Be prepared for dirty looks if you're walking down the street with a cig.

[Treefarmer]

[CoDeReBeL]

[IncognitoHFX]

Oh, it'll be nice not to be treated as a second class citizen when I get there.

Here, smoking sections have been abolished, so are smoking areas in public places including bus stops, businesses (unless you're 18 metres from the door), privately owned sidewalks and just about everywhere thats not the inside of your own home. On top of that there is the horrible stigma which sees smoking as a bad moral decision that you should be judged as less of a human being for.

Korea = 1, being treated like a baby by your own government = 0.

[CoDeReBeL]

[schwa]

The clamps are gradually tightening in Korea.

Bars & hofs are still full-on smoking with ashtrays at the ready but its becoming more frequent for someone at the table to object or if there are little kids around (fair enough) to step away to indulge. Family restaurants are no-go. Older han-sik restaurants still cater to the ajosshi crowd with ashtrays on request -- some even have "Smoking OK!" stickers on their doors. But some now have special areas or have you step outside. Its still okay in most traditional coffee shops but not the American chains.

If your students spot you smoking expect a gentle scolding -- I applaud this indoctrination. Public schools are officially non-smoking but male teachers lounges are sometimes exempt. In my school we get busted by the vp occasionally but theres still an ashtray stashed in the cabinet.

Despite all the trash already around, discarding a cigarette butt on the sidewalk is seriously frowned on. Younger women smoking in public is associated with prostitution but its becoming a more common sight in drinking places.

Youre not automatically judged a social deviant for smoking but there are beginnings of drift that way. Dedicated smokers from total clampdown countries can still buy a bit of time here.

[IncognitoHFX]

I don't like the mentality of some smokers, who say things like: "I don't care if they don't want to be in a bar full of smoke, I'll smoke anywhere I want and they'll just have to deal with it". People have the right to not inhale cigarette smoke--it is bad for you. Especially for younger people whose lungs aren't fully developed yet.

However, I never saw the harm in smoking rooms. When well ventilated and properly concealed, the smoke shouldn't leave the room and even if it did, its probably in such small doses that it would be on a par with inhaling car exhaust walking down a sidewalk, or building insulation, or a hundred other little toxins we breathe in on a regular basis in large cities.

The libertarian in me thinks that if you're not hurting anyone else and you accept the responsibility for your actions, then you should be allowed to smoke and not have to pay a stupid decisions tax for it. You should also not be allowed to sue if you die from it.

[whatever]

[quote="IncognitoHFX"]

For starters, you're not in Korea.

That said, you obviously don't care about the health of others.

[IncognitoHFX]

[quote="whatever"]

[cosmo]

Smokers don't care about their own health, of course they don't care about the health of others.

[huck]

I still don't understand how smokers can just accept themselves as "smokers". When you're younger, you don't know better...but now, when you know how bad it is for you, and how much it changes others' opinions of you, and how so many people consider it rude and disgusting....

Why continue smoking? Why worry about whether places will make it more comfortable for you to smoke? Why not say to yourself, "Well..this was obviously a huge mistake," and then do everything in your power to rectify it.

[IncognitoHFX]

[maeil]