Lee speaks for angry smokers

Lee Yeon-ik manager of www.ilovesmoking.co.kr.

By Kim Se-jeong

Lee yeon-ik, 45, manages www.ilovesmoking.co.kr, an online community for smokers, and speaks for 96,000 people angry about the recently announced cigarette price hike.

On Sept. 2, the government announced it would increase the price of a pack of cigarette by 2,000 won, which parliament approved on Tuesday. From Jan. 1, the cheapest cigarette pack will cost 4,500 won.

“The government did not care about smokers’ opinions ― we are not a small number of people,” Lee said. An estimated 10 million Koreans are smokers.

On Tuesday, enraged smokers took to the website.

Asked if 2,000 won was too much of an increase, Lee said it was concerning, but that was not the main point upsetting him and other smokers.

“The government is not being honest,” he said. “If the goal was to prevent people smoking, the government should have proposed a higher increase. “We feel the government is simply raising taxes at the expense of smokers. And you know what? Most smokers are lower-middle-class people.”

He said parliament had not approved mandatory health warnings on packets, a point of relief for him and fellow smokers.

He is also against a new special consumption tax to be imposed next year.

“The special consumption tax is imposed on luxury goods,” he said. “Is a pack of cigarettes a luxury product?”

A pack of cigarette carries five taxes: a cigarette consumption tax, a donation to public health promotion, a regional educational tax, VAT and a waste disposal tax. Taxes account for 62 percent of the price. The price of cigarettes was last increased in 2004 ― by 500 won.

Lee has been smoking for 25 years, since he was 20.

Asked why he smoked, he said it is a great stress-reliever.

“I work under extreme pressure, and I need something to ease my stress quickly,” he said. “I believe this is true for many people. And it’s relatively cheap and easy to get.”

But he said he did not think his children should smoke.

“I tell my kids that this is an option they can consider when they become an adult,” he said. “Right now, it’s not the time to smoke.”

However, he said he does smoke in his children’s presence.

The “love smoking” community was founded in 2001.