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A college student holds a sign during an antismoking campaign at Seoul Plaza, downtown Seoul, marking No Smoking Day on May 31, 2012. The sign reads: "Smoking claims 150 people every day." The campaign was organized by the Korean Association of Smoking and Health. The association supports a tobacco price hike proposal presented by Rep. Kim Jae-won of the ruling Saenuri Party to the National Assembly last Wednesday to reduce the smoking rate. / Korea Times file |
People divided over effect of higher burden on smokers
By Rachel Lee, Jun Ji-hye, Baek Byung-yeul
There are pros and cons on a move to raise the price of cigarette packs by up to 2,000 won ($1.8) in order to prod smokers to kick the habit.
Rep. Kim Jae-won of the ruling Saenuri Party has submitted a revision bill to increase the tobacco price from 2,500 won to 4,500 won.
He insisted that if the price increases by this much through raising the tobacco consumption tax and health promotion contribution, the number of smokers will decrease.
Though there is public criticism that government looks to easy ways to compensate for declining tax revenue, Korea is among countries whose smoking rate is considerably high.
Health data for 2011 released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) indicates that Korean's smoking rate is the second-highest among the 34 member states. Also, a 2010 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that the cost of cigarettes was the lowest in the OECD.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chin Young said there must be an increase in the price to reduce the smoking rate during hearings at the National Assembly on March 6, adding, "The price of cigarettes has not been raised since 2004, and it is relatively low compared to other countries."
However, the Park Geun-hye administration has yet to overcome differences even among government ministries over the issue.
Hyun Oh-seok, the nominee for deputy prime minister and finance minister, is against the price hike.
"If the government allows the tobacco price hike by 2,000 won, it will inevitably stoke inflation to some degree. It is expected to cause the consumer price index to go up 0.68 percentage points," he said during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Willing to quit smoking
Shim Yoon-jae, 28, a salesman in North Chungcheong Province, is a heavy smoker since he started when he was a teenager.
He said the price increase would help him quit smoking, which he says produces all evil and no good.
"I have been smoking for more than 10 years. At first I started it not to be isolated from my friends. I thought smoking could become a good medium to make friends as I could talk to new people while smoking," he said.
"When I was a university student and also when I started working in my company, I could easily make some friends by smoking together," he said.
He said, although he thinks it is time to quit smoking, it is really hard to give up on what he has been habitually doing for more a decade.
"So I need motivation and I think the price increase could play a role. I hope it will motivate everybody who wants to quit smoking," he added.
Won Yoo-jung, a dancer, recently started smoking and has since slowly become addicted to it.
"I personally think a tobacco price hike could be beneficial. I truly regret starting smoking," said Won, adding that she easily gets exhausted these days.
"Though there will not be that much difference in the price change, I will sort of be under pressure, which is a good thing for me because only then will it definitely help me quit smoking," she said.
More than half of her female friends smoke, and in fact, all of them now think that it is about time to quit.
"My friends and I will be happy to quit smoking for our health. And as far as we know, smoking is especially bad for women, so I think people living in Korea including us should consider if it is a good idea to pay more money and damage their health."
Won't quit smoking
Kim Jeong-hee, a 29-year-old office worker in Seoul, does not agree.
Although she admits that nation's high smoking rate is a social problem that has to be fixed, she said raising the price cannot be the sole solution to tackle the matter.
"It is just an absurd idea to reduce the smoking rate by just raising the price. For many ordinary people, smoking is a joyful and comforting activity in their tiring lives. Sometimes, they smoke to relieve stress," she said.
"I know it is not the right way to relieve stress because it damages their health. However, it has to be improved by such measures as education or a campaign. Simply increasing prices will only burden those people," she added.
Kim refuted arguments by antismoking advocates that the nation's cigarette price is very low compared to that of other OECD countries.
"Before talking about that, you should compare Korea's average salary to that of OECD countries first as Korea's salary level is comparatively low as well," the 29-year-old said.
She added, "As far as I know, lawmakers who are pushing forward with the idea also intend to find a new source of tax revenue in order to fulfill President Park Geun-hye's welfare pledges, which is very disappointing."
Kim, who is a "social smoker," said the higher cigarette price would not lead her to quit smoking, either as she continued to smoke while studying in Britain where the price is about six times more expensive.
Kim Seok-gi, a 30-year-old worker, is a habitual smoker. When he first heard that cigarettes might become more expensive, he couldn't concentrate on his work.
"I was so upset when I heard the news. I think people who have smoked for a long time felt exactly the same way," Kim said. "And I believe the higher price for a pack doesn't necessarily lead people to stop smoking."
Kim studied in England for 11 years and came back to Korea about two years ago.
"When I think about how much I paid for a pack of cigarettes in London, it's way too cheap here. In England, a pack costs about 14,000 won, which is about six times more expensive," he said.
"Because prices are much lower in Korea, I am now used to them. So I am 100 percent against the increase," he said.
A few days ago, he talked about this issue with his friends at a cafe. All five of them agreed with him.
"You know, some of my friends even said they would try not to spend much on other things and save for cigarettes instead. It sounds somewhat ridiculous but I totally agree with their thinking. Addicts will still smoke, so I doubt if there will be any change, to be honest," Kim said.
Kim Eun-ji, secretary general of the Korean Association of Smoking and Health, a private anti-smoking organization, strongly agreed with the proposed revision bill aimed at ramping up the price of cigarettes.
She said, "To reduce the smoking rate to 20 percent, the price per pack must be 8,000 won to 10,000 won. Only then will smokers feel heavy pressure from a higher price, and the smoking rate will decrease sharply."
Kim also said that though the policies of the government to reduce the number of the smokers have been effective, there are limits.
"The policies such as the expansion of nonsmoking areas and the restriction of tobacco ads in magazines were effective. But to produce more successful results, the authorities should adopt a firmer price policy at the same time," she insisted.
However, the government still faces resistance from the tobacco retailers to the price increase.
The Korea Tobacco Retailer Association (KTRA) said Saturday in a statement, "In our own survey, about 70 percent of our members answered that the increase of 2,000 won per pack is too much and an increase of 500 won is proper." KTRA insisted, "The government should give a subsidy to retailers who will suffer a loss."
It remains to be seen if lawmakers will vote for the proposed price hike in the face of opposition from not only smokers and the retailers but also a discord among policymakers.
