"Change it"... 60-Year-Old Assaults Convenience Store Owner Over Cigarette Price Sign

Assault Over Displeasure with Warning Image
Refusal to Pay 700,000 Won Fine Leads to Formal Trial Request

A man in his 60s who assaulted a convenience store owner after demanding an exchange because he disliked the smoking-related warning images attached to cigarette packs was sentenced to a fine.

On the 31st, Judge Kim Dong-jin of the Criminal Division 4 at the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Mr. A (69), who was charged with injury, to a fine of 700,000 won.

In February, Mr. A purchased cigarettes at a convenience store in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and requested to exchange the warning image on the cigarette pack. When the store owner in his 30s refused, Mr. A verbally abused him and assaulted him, causing injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment.

This case was initially prosecuted by summary indictment with a fine of 700,000 won, and the court previously issued a summary order for the same amount. However, Mr. A requested a formal trial, arguing that the fine was excessive.

A summary indictment is a procedure in which the prosecution requests a summary order imposing fines, penalties, or confiscation without a formal trial when the charges are relatively minor.

Judge Kim stated the sentencing rationale: "The defendant has three prior convictions for similar fines and committed the offense again in this case. The victim wishes for the defendant to be punished. Therefore, the originally issued summary order fine of 700,000 won is deemed appropriate."

The warning images on cigarette packs are part of smoking cessation policies recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to inform consumers about the harms of smoking.

In South Korea, the first phase of the cigarette pack warning images and warning text system was implemented in December 2016. Since then, the adult male smoking rate has decreased from 40.7% to 34% in 2020.

All Major Harmful Components of Cigarettes to Be Disclosed by October 2025

In August last year, the Korea No Smoking Advertisement Exhibition was held at the Seoul Metro Museum of Art inside Gyeongbokgung Station in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This exhibition displayed records including no smoking advertisements conducted over the past 20 years.
[Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@]

Meanwhile, the major harmful components of cigarettes, which tobacco companies had concealed from the public, are scheduled to be fully disclosed starting October 2025.

This follows the passage of the "Act on the Management of Harmfulness of Tobacco" by the National Assembly on the 6th. This legislation is the result of 18 years since South Korea ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2005 and 10 years since the related bill was first proposed. The new law will be fully enforced two years after its promulgation.

Under the new law, tobacco manufacturers, importers, and sellers must conduct tests on the harmful substance content of each product every two years and submit the results to the government. The types of harmful substances submitted by tobacco companies will be disclosed online and elsewhere. The Tobacco Harmfulness Management Committee will decide which harmful substances are disclosed. In addition to traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes such as liquid-type and heated tobacco products are included in the disclosure requirements.

Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemical substances and more than 70 carcinogens, but South Korea currently only discloses the tar and nicotine content. Substances that cause cancer, such as naphthylamine, nickel, and benzene, have only been listed by name on cigarette pack packaging without disclosing their amounts. Because of this, tobacco regulations have been criticized as being more lenient than those for cosmetics, which require disclosure of all ingredients.

The health insurance expenditure caused by smoking is also significant. According to the National Health Insurance Service, over the past five years, health insurance medical expenses for diseases presumed to be caused by smoking, such as lung cancer, have reached approximately 16.4 trillion won.

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