Saturday, September 22, 2012

Smoking in Korea

There are a few things I dislike about Korea but nothing irks me quite like smoking.  I have always hated the habit right from a small child when my father smoked.  I can remember warning him that it was unhealthy and even threatening him with pouring a bucket of water over his head when he was failing to quit.  He was not amused with this and retaliated with, 'you had better not!'

In the end he did quit but it wasn't because he heeded my warnings, he actually ended up having a heart attack in his early fifties.  This was the kick up the backside he needed and has been fit and healthy ever since, and quite spritely looking for a now 67 year-old, I hope I inherit his anti-aging formula.

In England, thesedays, smoking it pretty much banned in all public places, with bars being the most controversial of these places.  Outside business premises, bars, and restaurants it is always possible to see a group of people huddled together enjoying a cigarette or two, sometimes shivering away in the winter months.  English people also rarely smoke while walking along the street or outside shops.  This is great for me as I never feel more unhealthy than when I am sucking in the dreadful stench of someone else's cigarette smoke. 

It is no secret in the Western community that many Korean men are not always the best in the manners department, so when you combine this with smoking, things become even more frustrating.  They hang around on street corners blowing smoke in your face, smoke profusely in restaurants, in bars, and most annoyingly of all, in toilets.  I am sure every single toilet in Korea smells of smoke, the combination of smoke and urine creates an almost uniquely disgusting odour.

The inappropiateness of the location of the toilet also does not stop them.  Teachers smoke in the toilets at my high school, while unleashing their fury at any students caught doing the same.  This strikes me as a tad hypocritical and not worthy of the respect of the students that they demand.  I was especially horrified when one day in my local gym, the toilet - right next to the workout area - was being utilized by three men for a fag (cigarettes for you Americans, not homosexuals) break in between their weight training sets.  I desperately needed the toilet so had to wade through a cloud of smoke and made my feelings known by coughing very loudly the whole time (although I found it extremely difficult to pee while coughing).

The ban on smoking in all enclosed public spaces came into effect in England on July 1st 2007.  Since that date I have enjoyed going out with my friends for the odd drink a lot more.  I am not a big drinker, and sometimes I have just decided to go out and drink water, but still be social.  This can be done in England because I then go home feeling fine and without stinking like an ashtray. 

In Korea, however, no such ban is in place but I hear that there are rumours the government want to introduce one by 2015.  It appears that they are starting to get tough on smoking in Korea.  Too late for me, as I will be returning home next year, so I guesss I will have to suffer for one more year. 

In an interesting article I read recently on smoking in Korea,(http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/41407) it said that some Korean companies were taking smoking into account when handing out promotions at work, trying to discourage people to smoke.  While I praise the motivation behind such a move, I do not approve of their tactics as it sounds awfully authoritarian.  What people do with their lives is entirely up to them, they can smoke if they want to and it should not affect their promotion chances, but their smoking should not affect others detrimentally.

I try to avoid smoky places whenever possible in Korea, and this means that I rarely venture out for nights out in bars and clubs.  The reason I avoid these places is purely because of the smoking, which I now have an even greater loathing for.  This probably makes me less social in Korea than I should be with my fellow English teachers, because bars are really the principle place to meet people and socialise.

The final straw for me (and probably the reason behind this rant) came a couple of weeks ago while having a drink with my mother in-law as part of her birthday celebrations.  I had got up early to exercise that day at 5.30am as I knew I had no time to do it later, I had an extra English class after work and I was busy the whole day.  I had to psyche myself up for possibly a long night with the in-laws, which I managed quite well.  After a pleasant dinner we arrived at an empty, quite pretty little bar for a few gentle drinks.  I was tired but in a good mood, but then about five separate groups of men entered and every single one of them started smoking.  I felt horrible fairly immediately, as I now have zero-tolerance to smoking.  I made my feelings known but I had to stay for a little while longer. 

By the time it was ready to leave I was very fed up, feeling unhealthy, and my clothes stunk.  When I got back to my apartment building someone had been smoking in the lift, so that stunk, and then when I walked in the door, someone had been smoking on the balcony above us and because we had our doors open the apartment stunk of smoke.  To rub salt into the wounds even the toilet in my apartment smelt of smoke because we share the same air vents as other people in the building, and obviously somebody somewhere had been smoking in their toilet, so that stunk too.

There are many people in England that want the smoking ban reversed, they say it is their human right to be able to smoke and that it is a factor in the closing down of many pubs.  Well, I am sorry, what smokers are essentially doing by smoking around other people who do not smoke is showing they don't give a damn about their rights or for their health.  Smoking in private is fine, a person's health is their own business and if they do not mind risking illness that is up to them.  Smoking around others, however, is selfish and irresponsible behaviour.  I am not a fan of big government, telling it's citizens what to do, but a smoking ban is necessary to protect the rights of people who want to be healthy from those who care about as much for other people's health as they do for their own.

I love the proverb, 'The shoe that fits one pinches another.  There is no perfect recipe to life', however, some people's idea of a perfect fit hurts others.  This is what laws are for, to protect people from harm by others and is the reason that governments around the world that are enforcing smoking bans in public are doing the right thing.  I wish Korea could speed up the process.

19 comments:

  1. "what smokers are essentially doing by smoking around other people who do not smoke is showing they don't give a damn about their rights or for their health."

    THIS. I've never been to Korea, but Berlin is almost as bad as what you describe here. Train stations are all non-smoking, for example - at least they have signs. But no one gives a rat's ass about the rules, so I usually arrive at my destination smelling of smoke. Lately, people have been smoking UNDERGROUND even!

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    1. Koreans don't smoke on trains at least. It surprises me that Germany is so bad for that.

      The toilets in Korea bother me the most. Every single one of them smells of smoke even the one in my own apartment!

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  2. I guess also has certain influence that Korean men think smoking and drinking is manly so it would be hard to convince them its unhealthy, I was for business in Seoul and I remember how difficult was to take the stinking smell of cigars from my clothes even after dry cleaning. I think you are very openminded to live there, personally I found it very hard even to do business there.

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    1. Korea is certainly not a comfortable place to live, you're right. I think I am the kind of person that likes a bit of controversy, a good argument, and a bit of a battle though and Korea is quite a good place for that. Lots of interesting issues come up all the time, although I really hate their smoking habits and the general manners of older Korean men.

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  3. I am a female ex smoker who recently relocated to Seoul, Korea. Originally from the UK where smoking is now a social embarrasment. It is odd that the Koreans eat very healthily, but smoke. And I agree that it is the older generation that seem to be the worst, but seeing all the city workers standing outside their offices, alongside their women colleagues. They just do not seem to understand that it is so bad for them or they just turn a blind eye. I have taken this a step further and became a Quit Smoking Specialist, (I trained in Sydney, Australia) so I am on a mission now to help the Koreans to quit...but how??? I would appreciate it Chris if you could email me, or visit my Facebook site, and contribute to helping people quit with your comments. (Quit Smoking in Korea). Would be great to hear from you and from anyone else who wants to help change Seoul/Korea, by adding their comments. Thank you for letting me have a little rant on your forum. Kim

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    1. Thanks for the comment, ranting is what 95% of my blog is about so any rant at all is welcome.

      I am not sure how best to stop Koreans smoking. I think a foreigner telling them not to, for whatever reason, wouldn't help. I think a better way is to try and convince them that smoking in public is a bit of a backward and uncivilized thing to do. I think they are concerned with how the rest of the world views their society so if we could somehow make smoking unfashionable or fit for ridicule tat might encourage people out of it. Also, as it is mainly men that do it to look cool and strong, some kind of awareness campaign that it actually makes them weak and unappealing to women might work. Smoking being a risk factor in impotence for example may be more effective than a general statement of bad health or lung cancer.

      Will post something on your facebook page. Keep up the good work.

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    2. Hi Chris, thanks for the reply. I agree with your comments about changing attitudes. I have recently helped some kids quit smoking, because, they know that it is a risk to their health to carry on. With a little bit of help from me, and a lot of help from themselves, they managed to quit. I must admit Seoul has got its good and bad points. Thank you for visiting my Facebook page....it is there to help. So much support is needed. Kim

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  4. Good blog, I am in Korea right now too but in Suwon not Seoul and working as engineer for the most of the day and struggling for my right to breath a clean air for the rest :)

    Almost till the end of last year we worked in one building (U-Tower) which had the same problem where people went to smoke to the public balcony from where the cigarette smell spreads out to the entire floor, smoking people not only stupid but also so lazy to go outside for smoking. I guess I am tired to be polite when talking with and about smoking people as I am getting tired to struggle for my right to breath a clean air.

    The way how I found to solve this problem first was to keep complaining again and again to the building maintenance about so finally the nearest door of this balcony got closed!

    Unfortunately starting from this year we moved to another building (Innoplex) where situation is terrible near the building entrance and around it. There is official signage clearly saying that "near building" area is non-smoking but there are dozens people standing around and smoking like there is no work to do in the office, just smoking all day long. What I am doing right now almost every day when I go to my work is asking that people not to smoke refer to that signage but they keep smoking again and again and laughting at my requests.

    I think the most efficient way would be to complain "officially" to someone who is responsible to keep the law especially when people smoke in non-smoking area. For example the situation right near to the airport entrances (Inchon) is completely terrible too as there are many smoking people waiting for a bus at the bus stops and smoking. This problem should be highlighted in mass media and officially accuse people who is responsible.

    From my side I do everything what I can - I talk to people still in very polite way but I feel like soon hitting somebody because people pretend to be "deaf" when talking about that subject.

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    1. No one ever takes any notice of no smoking signs here, drives me crazy. I am the same as you, I am so tired of being polite to these selfish people.

      I think I would be a little concerned that even if a smoking ban in public places happens in Korea, people won't follow it. If there is something that the Korean government don't tend to do well it is enforcing laws.

      Anyway, I will be back in England later this year listening to people moan about how their human rights have been taken away by the smoking ban in public. As you said, what about our right to breathe clean air?!

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  5. Smoking is a serious issue for many countries, no matter how hard the government try by imposing bans, raising taxes, people still smoke, it seems like the only solution is to ban the production of tobacco.

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    1. Thanks for posting.

      In my home country, England, the ban on smoking in public places is enforced and therefore respected so I can't say I have much of a problem with it there, personally. Public bans are enough, what people do when they don't affect others is their own business. Greater enforcement of bans on public smoking in some countries, like Korea, is what is needed. Not a great fan on banning things full stop.

      A friend of mine smokes a pipe when he hikes and sits on top of a mountain and relaxes and smokes it there, which is completely harmless. I think it would be a sorry state of affairs if we banned him and others like him enjoying something like that when it doesn't affect others.

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  6. I guess if the government try to promote alternatives of smoking like electronic cigarettes, it might help to bring down the ratio of tobacco utilization, people need a choice and by providing it i am sure they can quit easily.

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  7. I like the smell of smoke..

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    1. I like the smell of petrol fumes, but that doesn't mean I want to be breathing them in too much.

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  8. Once I graduated from my college and save enough money I was trying to find a good place to have a trip out of the country (from Phil.) and I was trying to go to S.Korea I'm kinda having second thoughts because I really don't know how I should behave with them in my school there are many foreign students, I have a Korean classmate that don't talk too much and I we barely talk. And also I'm a smoker too and bits by bit I'm trying myself to stop by when my mood swings I can't stop myself to buy a packet, almost in my place even with the penalty and law people keep smoking almost everywhere but some places have a smoking zone for smokers, though be aware because you might get caught. I wonder if there are safe places to smoke just in case. And nice blog!

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    1. Many thanks. Hopefully you will get to Korea, and I wouldn't worry too much about how you should behave, just bow, smile, and nod, works for me.

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