National Health Insurance Service Loses 6-Year Tobacco Lawsuit... "Appealing for Public Health" (Comprehensive)

Chairman Kim Yong-ik "Shocking Ruling... Continued Efforts for Legal Recognition"

Kim Yong-ik, President of the National Health Insurance Service, is answering questions from the press on the 20th in front of the Seoul Central District Court West Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. On the same day, the National Health Insurance Service lost a lawsuit claiming damages for smoking against tobacco companies including KT&G, Korea Philip Morris, and British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Sojeong Seo, Hyunui Jo, Seongpil Jo] After the first trial in the long-running six-year damages lawsuit between tobacco companies ended with the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS, Chairman Kim Yong-ik) losing, the NHIS stated it would appeal, criticizing the ruling as once again giving a free pass to tobacco companies.

On the 20th, the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Hong Ki-chan) ruled against the NHIS in the damages claim lawsuit filed against three tobacco companies: KT&G, Philip Morris Korea, and British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea.

The NHIS expressed regret over the loss and announced plans to continue efforts to expose the harms of tobacco and gain legal recognition to protect public health rights and improve social awareness. Since tobacco threatens not only the health of individuals but also the sustainability of health insurance, the NHIS intends to proceed with an appeal.

Immediately after the ruling, NHIS Chairman Kim Yong-ik told reporters, "This is a very shocking and regrettable judgment," adding, "We have tried to obtain legal recognition of the clear harms caused by tobacco, but this case reaffirmed that the path is not easy."

Regarding the recognition of tobacco companies' liability for damages in the United States and Canada, Chairman Kim said, "I believe the social atmosphere to acknowledge tobacco-related harm is still insufficient," and added, "We will continue to shed light on this issue and strive to improve social awareness."

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The NHIS filed a damages claim lawsuit worth 53.3 billion KRW against domestic tobacco companies on April 14, 2014, to hold tobacco companies accountable for concealing and distorting the risks and harms of tobacco and to compensate for the health insurance expenditure leakage caused by smoking-related diseases.

The core of the NHIS's claim is that tobacco companies should bear the enormous health insurance benefit costs incurred for patients who developed diseases due to tobacco. However, the tobacco companies argued that the NHIS lacked standing to sue because it did not suffer direct damages from smoking.

The trial, which began with the first hearing in September of the same year, stalled for years. After about ten hearings following the initial one, the trial paused in May 2018. Although a hearing was scheduled for September 2018 to continue the trial, it was postponed indefinitely at the tobacco companies' request to review the 15,000 pages of evidence submitted by the NHIS. Two years later, in August of this year, the trial resumed, and the final arguments concluded on the 23rd of last month.

Regarding the first trial verdict, the NHIS stated, "Despite the active participation of healthcare experts and related organizations and the submission of extensive evidence to the court in this lawsuit, it is very regrettable that the existing Supreme Court rulings were repeated," adding, "We will carefully analyze the specific contents of the judgment and then decide whether to appeal."

In 2014, two lung cancer patients who smoked a pack a day for 30 and 40 years respectively sought damages from the state that manufactured and sold tobacco, but the Supreme Court did not recognize liability for damages.

Following the NHIS's loss, related organizations such as the Korea Association on Smoking and Health expressed that the ruling goes against international trends.

Seo Hong-kwan, chairman of the Korea Association on Smoking and Health, said, "The harmfulness of tobacco has already been scientifically proven in many countries, and in advanced countries including the United States, state governments have stepped in on behalf of smoking victims to secure large compensation settlements through lawsuits against tobacco companies," adding, "Despite the medical opinions and scientific evidence from domestic and international experts and related institutions, once again siding with tobacco companies is a ruling that goes against international trends."

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