Street near COEX area to become smoke-free

People caught smoking on the street near COEX will be fined 100,000 won starting Nov. 1, following designation of the area as a “smoke-free” zone.

Officials of the Gangnam-gu Office said Tuesday that the southern Seoul district will ban smoking on sections of footpaths along Yeongdong Street.

This will be the second of its kind in the district, following one imposed along Gangnam Street.

The nonsmoking zone will be the 836-meter sidewalk near COEX, one block between the Exit 5 of Samseong Station and the COEX crossroad intersecting Bongeunsa-ro. The area will include parts of the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas hotel, Asem Tower and COEX plaza.

The designation will be officially announced on Friday, and smokers there will be fined starting Nov. 1 after a grace period.

Officials said the designation aims to protect the health of residents as well as people visiting there.

“Many travelers visit the area. Especially a large number of children and juveniles come because of various exhibitions and events held there. There have been calls from residents and merchants there to make the street smoke-free,” a district official said.

In line with related law revisions, Gangnam will also ban smoking at all restaurants with floor space of 150 square meters or larger starting December and at bus stops and near schools gradually by 2014.

Since July, the district has prohibited smoking on the footpath along Gangnam Street between Gangnam Station and Sinnonhyeon Station. <The Korea Times/Kim Rahn>

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