Smoking scenes rampant in entertainment media

By Kang Seung-woo

More than half of entertainment media contain smoking scenes and display tobacco products, according to government data, raising concerns that such depictions may entice young people to start smoking.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 53.3 percent of dramas, 50.4 percent of films and 50 percent of webtoons depicted smoking.

The ministry conducted the study recently to see how much children and adolescents were exposed to smoking scenes and tobacco imagery through media. It reviewed 15 dramas that topped the viewer rankings between January 2017 and June 2018, 125 movies released during the same period and 42 webtoons published on the nation's two major internet portals Naver and Daum.

Eight out of the 15 dramas showed use of tobacco products, and soap operas on cable networks had an average 14.3 smoking scenes per episode. There were even two scenes showing teenagers smoking.

As for movies, 63 films featured on-screen smoking. By classification, 5.6 percent of movies were meant for all ages; 34.9 percent for ages 12 or older; and 68.6 percent for 15 and over.

Webtoons popular with young people also showed characters smoking, with smoking scenes or tobacco packs appearing in 21 out of the 42 webtoons. Those cartoons were available for all age groups.

The ministry also reviewed 1,612 YouTube clips on 11 channels with over 1,000 subscribers, which dealt repeatedly with tobacco products. While most of the footage was reviews of e-cigarettes, some showed the hosts smoking in school uniform, and some even told minors how they could illegally buy tobacco at stores.

“Children and adolescents exposed to smoking scenes repeatedly are more likely to try smoking,” a ministry official said. “We urge entertainment content creators and producers to refrain from showing smoking in content rated for minors.”