By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Smokers in Seoul will have fewer places to smoke, as the city is moving to designate parks and all other public places as nonsmoking areas.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday that it plans to assign outdoor public places including plazas, streets and schools, as nonsmoking areas and will issue related regulations soon.
The ordinance, aimed at protecting nonsmokers from unwanted cigarette smoke, will not be legally binding nor will fines be imposed on smokers who violate it.
It will be a recommendation that provides the basis for provincial governments to take various steps to curb smoking in public places.
``The measure is to prevent inhalation of second hand smoke and appreciate the health rights of nonsmokers,'' Cho Eun-hee, the assistant mayor of Women & Family Policy Affairs said. ``Since there are insufficient legal restrictions on smoking, citizens' participation and responses are the most important factors for the success of the policies,'' the official said.
According to a survey by the municipal government, 97 percent of participants said they are willing to refrain from smoking when there is a nonsmoking sign and it leads to not having a smoke in front of other people.
The city will designate major plazas such as Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggye Plaza and 16 major streets in Seoul as nonsmoking areas with no smoking sign-marked footpaths.
Restaurants in Seoul will be asked to set up separate smoking and nonsmoking areas. Under current law, only restaurants larger than 150 square meters are obligated to part the sections. The metropolitan government will give incentives to small eateries that separate smoking and nonsmoking areas.
Seoul will reduce the side effects of second hand smoke on teenagers by designating areas around elementary, middle and high schools as nonsmoking zones.
Registration for nonsmoking apartment complexes will be expanded as well, particularly for apartments built by Seoul Housing Corporation. Meanwhile, community areas such as hallways, staircases, playgrounds and parking lots are going to be smoke free.
Taxis must post no smoking signs and prohibit smoking, and the city will remove trash bins from bus stops to discourage smokers.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
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