Gwangju Seo-gu 'Hwajeong Hillstate 1st Complex' Designated as a No-Smoking Zone

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 25th that Universiade Hillstate Complex 1, located in Hwajeong 2-dong, will be designated as a 'No Smoking Zone.'

According to Article 9, Paragraph 5 of the National Health Promotion Act, if more than half of the households in an apartment complex apply to designate all or part of the four areas?hallways, stairs, elevators, and underground parking lots?as no smoking zones, the district office will go through administrative procedures to mandatorily designate them as no smoking zones.

Hillstate Complex 1 was designated as a no smoking zone with the consent of 389 households (50.98%) out of a total of 763 households.

Accordingly, after about six months of promotion and guidance, starting from August, a fine of 50,000 KRW will be imposed if smoking is detected in the designated no smoking areas within the apartment.

Support will be provided for signage and banners indicating the no smoking zones, and various health promotion services such as mobile smoking cessation clinics and blood pressure and blood sugar checks will be regularly offered to apartment residents in the future.

In Seo-gu, a total of seven no smoking apartments have been designated, including Universiade Hillstate Complex 1 (Hwajeong 2-dong), and the plan is to gradually expand these zones to protect the health of district residents.

An official from the Seo-gu Public Health Center said, "As the time spent in residential spaces has increased due to COVID-19, this is expected to help reduce the recent surge in smoking-related disputes within apartment complexes," and added, "Since the no smoking zones were designated with residents' consent, we hope voluntary smoking cessation will be practiced even in areas outside the designated zones."

For inquiries about applying for no smoking zone designation in apartment complexes, please contact the Health Promotion Division of Seo-gu Public Health Center.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho sdhs6751@asiae.co.kr

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