Posters and other advertisements promoting alcoholic beverages will be banned from theaters and subway stations from May as part of government efforts to discourage young people from drinking.
Owners of buildings designated as non-smoking will also be hit with large financial penalties if they permit people to smoke inside them.
These and other changes to the National Health Promotion Act were approved in a Cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday.
Under the revision, theater operators will be not be allowed to show alcohol commercials before and after movies rated for people of all ages.
But they will still be able to air the commercials prior to screenings for moviegoers aged over 19. Additionally, subway operators across the nation’s large cities will be banned from showing commercials for alcoholic drinks on electronic displays installed in stations. Screen doors will also be off-limits to alcohol advertisements.
“We decided to change the health act, which was revised in June, once again to further strengthen regulations on alcohol commercials in order to more effectively prevent young people from picking up the bad habit of excessive drinking,” a ministry official said.
If commercial and residential building owners, who are obliged to designate their entire facility as non-smoking under the law, do not follow the rules, they will face a 5 million won fine, up from the current 3 million won.
Those who smoke cigarettes in exclusively no-smoking buildings will face a 100,000 won fine, while smokers in buildings where smoking areas are separately set up will face only half of that amount if they light up in no-smoking zones.