Gangnam’s non-smoking plan ignores foreigners

Gangnam and Seocho district offices in southern Seoul, which will start to fine people smoking in their jurisdictions from June, started a public notification campaign on March 1. However, the offices appear to have forgotten about foreign residents and tourists in the area.

The one-kilometer non-smoking zone along streets, designated by Seocho and Gangnam district offices, is an area with a daily floating population estimated at more than 110,000.

The thoroughfare between Exit 9 of Gangnam Station on subway line No. 2 and Exit 6 of Sinnonhyeon Station on line 9 is home to a number of English-language learning institutes and popular entertainment facilities where foreign workers and visitors are easily spotted.

The Seocho District has been running the publicity campaign since March 1. District officials are handing out leaflets to Koreans who they spot smoking on the thoroughfares.

They explained to smokers where designated smoking zones are located, and advised them that violators will be fined 50,000 won from June 1 following a three-month grace period.

However, foreign residents and workers, and tourists appear to have been left out of the campaign.

A Japanese man was spotted smoking walking on the thoroughfare and was given a pamphlet on the scene by a Seocho District official who mistook him for a local.

“I didn’t even know what was going on,” said Hasegawa Yosuke, who has lived in Korea for four years.

The 24-year-old office worker fluent in Korean said he was not aware of the policy, though his workplace and residence are both located around Gangnam Station.

The pamphlet written in Korean has only one English phrase, “No smoking area.” The pamphlet also fails to give information on smoking zones and fines.

District officials said foreign violators will be treated equally as locals if they violate the ordinance.

But they are unsure of how to make them aware of the policy in advance. They just said most foreigners tend to refrain from smoking while walking.

“Please take into consideration the fact that the policy was to prevent risk of second-hand smoking,” said An Youn-jin, an official at the Department of Health Management at the Seocho office. “And according to our research, those who smoke while walking on the street and thus inflict second-hand smoke on others were locals, not foreigners.”

An said this is why the office is running a grace period to reflect suggestions and improve its policy before it takes effect.

She said the office is running a publicity campaign from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

An said she can reschedule the hours to inform foreigners.

“About 34 to 40 of our employees are on the scene every day, and we could reschedule the hours if we think it’s necessary over the grace period,” she noted.

Gagnam District Office, which governs the other side of the thoroughfare, said it will consider its Seocho counterpart’s measures and reflect them in its policy.  <Korea Times/Yi Whan-woo>

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