Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gamecock]

I heard that it was illegal for women (but not men) to smoke on a public street? Is this for real?

[Crois]

You seriuous???

There would be a human rights thing against Korea I think if this were true.

[just because]

It is a social taboo(not illegal) for women to smoke in public.

However, this taboo is dissapearing fast.

[Real Reality]

just because wrote,
"It is a social taboo(not illegal) for women to smoke in public."

Here is an article excerpt:
Tobacco Taboo -- Up in Smoke
Heedless to the growing anti-smoking movement in Asia, young women are lighting up more than ever
"Low smoking rates among women is not uncommon in Asia, even in China," she said. "It's low because it is not something that was socially accepted in Asian society."

But more and more young women in Asia are lighting up. In Mongolia, for example, the smoking rate among high school girls increased 20 times between 1989 and 1995. And in Hong Kong, the smoking rate among 15-year-old girls is double that of 25-year-old women. Many anti-smoking advocates attribute the increase to changing values. "Women in Asia are becoming much more independent, more educated, and are going outside the home more and earning money," said Mackay. "It's a combination of independence, emancipation, and having more money to buy cigarettes that contributes to women taking up the habit." He said in many Asian countries, especially Korea and Japan, women have been smoking for quite some time. But because smoking was taboo for women until recently, they have never confessed to it.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sipa/PUBS/SLANT/FALL97/article10.html

No Joke: Smoking Crackdown Starts April 1
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200303/200303180018.html

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
WESTERN PACIFIC -- Smoking Statistics
In a single year after the ban against American tobacco was lifted, smoking among Korean teenagers rose from 18% to 30%; among female teens it rose about five-fold, from 1.6% to 8.7%.
The Republic of Korea is the eighth largest cigarette market in the world, with an annual volume of 100 billion cigarettes, according to industry data.
www.wpro.who.int/tfi/docs/wntd02/ 18FS%20smoking%20stats.doc

[JackSarang]

Of all the many Korean women I've met who are smokers, none of them dared smoke in the street. They said they get so much crap from idiot ajushi's its not worth it.

Go inside any PC bang, bar or nightclub, restaurant etc and you see them smoking like chimneys just like the men.

[komtengi]

when I first came to Korea the one law i could never get over was that it was illegal to make out on the street.
Not that it was ever inforced

[peppermint]

I heard this too, probably here, and asked one of my adult students about it. He'd done civil service as one of the "baby"cops, and he laughed and said there was no such law

[Harvard Material]

Apparently, a woman can be fined by the police for smoking out of doors. This excludes outdoor patio type restaurants. In such a place of business it is considered acceptable, but walking on the sidewalk? Bad idea. This was told to me directly from a Korean female smoker/former g-friend.
As for foreign women? The rule doesn't apply, however, they will get some rude glares.

Check it out with a female Korean smoker...I believe what I was told.

[dogbert]

[mb2086]

If I had my way smoking would be permanently banned form everywhere in Korea, with fines of up to $1000!!!!! As a permanent non-smoker I am amazed how many Koreans smoke and don't think twice about it. Going to an internet cafe is like going to a clinic to contract lung cancer, assuming of course you you can see your way to a free chair without using radar or choking to death.