Seoul citizens are exposed to an average of 13 minutes of passive smoking everyday, according to a survey conducted by Seoul City.
Seoul City conducted the survey of 1,000 people aged 19 or older in December to use it in its bid to map out a secondhand smoking regulation policy and strategy to curb the number of smokers.
The rate of exposure to secondhand smoking in 2012 was 90.8 percent, down 1.6 percent from 2009.
People encountered secondhand smoking less often in indoor public venues, but for longer periods of time.
They are exposed to secondhand smoking for about 12.9 minutes on average per day. Exposure lasted for three minutes in outdoor places, compared to 10 minutes in indoor facilities.
The places where people are most exposed to secondhand smoke include bars (61.1%), restaurants (18.7%), building rooftops, stairs, and entrances (9.2%), offices (6.4%), and apartments (2.0%)
Seoul is planning to place a greater emphasis in enforcing smoking regulations in indoor facilities.
The adult smoking rate reached about 22.2 percent, compared with 24.2 percent in 2008.