Designation of the Entire Yangjae-dong Area in Seocho-gu as a No-Smoking Zone

From November 2, All Public Roads in Yangjae-dong Designated as No-Smoking Zones...Complete Ban on Smoking While Walking

Yangjae 1-dong No Smoking Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Jo Eun-hee) has become the first in the nation to designate an entire neighborhood (dong) as a no-smoking zone.

This policy was implemented based on strong support from residents and aims to minimize the ‘smoking conflicts’ that arise when smokers avoid no-smoking zones and smoke elsewhere.

The district has designated the entire Yangjae-dong area as a no-smoking zone starting from the 2nd of this month.

This no-smoking zone covers all public roads, including side streets, excluding private properties. The designated roads total 55 km in length, covering an area of 13 square kilometers.

Additionally, in areas where smoking had frequently occurred, 30 ‘line-type smoking zones’ have been separately marked and designated.

After an educational period in November and December, enforcement will begin on January 1st next year, with violators smoking within the no-smoking zones subject to a fine of 50,000 KRW.

This bold decision by the district aims to minimize the side effects caused by smokers avoiding no-smoking zones and to address the inconvenience of expanding no-smoking zones without providing sufficient smoking areas.

The designation of the entire Yangjae-dong as a no-smoking zone marks a shift from the previous approach of sporadically designating specific sections as no-smoking zones, instead designating the entire neighborhood as a no-smoking zone while separately designating smoking-permitted areas.

Previously, the general perception among smokers was that ‘smoking is allowed outside no-smoking zones,’ but with the entire neighborhood designated as a no-smoking zone, the district expects a paradigm shift toward the understanding that ‘smoking is only allowed in designated smoking areas.’

Furthermore, by designating not only main roads but also residential side streets as no-smoking zones, the district anticipates preventing the ‘balloon effect’ where smokers crowd into side streets due to main road no-smoking zones, as well as preemptively curbing the socially problematic issue of ‘smoking while walking.’ Ultimately, the district’s goal is to instill the awareness that smoking should fundamentally be prohibited on public roads.

Moreover, by sufficiently designating separate smoking zones, the policy is designed to consider both smokers and non-smokers.

To this end, the district conducted a one-month field survey starting in August to investigate residents’ smoking habits and identify appropriate locations for smoking zones.

Based on this, a resident survey was conducted from September 28 to October 23, with 7,280 participants, resulting in overwhelming support for the no-smoking zone designation.

The survey showed that 89.5% of respondents had experienced harm from secondhand smoke, 81.4% supported the no-smoking zone designation, and 79.5% supported the smoking zones.

Considering the close impact of designating an entire neighborhood as a no-smoking zone on residents’ lives, Seocho-gu held a meeting on October 21 with experts, local residents, and representatives of smokers to gather opinions before the full designation.

The district stated that it will flexibly operate the smoking zones based on the feedback from the meeting and will also make efforts to actively encourage resident participation.

Based on the results of the Yangjae-dong no-smoking zone designation, the district plans to sequentially designate Bangbae-dong, Seocho-dong, Banpo, and Jamwon-dong as no-smoking zones, installing smoking zones according to the distribution of commercial and residential areas in each neighborhood.

Yangjae 2-dong No Smoking Area

Meanwhile, Seocho-gu is actively providing counseling for smokers in addition to expanding no-smoking zones. Especially since face-to-face counseling has been prohibited due to COVID-19 this year, a remote video counseling room has been established to actively support smokers’ voluntary smoking cessation treatment.

The district is also actively running smoking cessation camps where smokers receive treatment by being admitted to medical institutions.

Furthermore, in July last year, Seocho-gu became the first in the nation to include a provision in its ordinance designating a 10-meter radius around schools as no-smoking zones, establishing an innovative system to protect children and adolescents who are particularly vulnerable to the harms of secondhand smoke.

By operating a no-smoking coaching group composed of parents, the district promotes no-smoking campaigns around daycare centers, kindergartens, and schools, leading the way in no-smoking policies and receiving the Seoul Creative Award in 2019.

Thanks to these efforts, this year Seocho-gu received the ‘2020 Excellent Award for Creating a Community No-Smoking Environment’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Seocho-gu Mayor Jo Eun-hee stated, “We expect a transformation in no-smoking policies by shifting from fragmented no-smoking zone designations to designating the entire Yangjae-dong as a no-smoking zone through a change in perspective,” adding, “If the Yangjae-dong no-smoking zone policy succeeds, we will expand no-smoking zones throughout Seocho-gu based on this and create a Seocho free from the harms of secondhand smoke.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.