Smoking in media

More than half of South Korean entertainment media contains  scenes of smoking or displays tobacco products, reports The Korea Times citing data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The ministry conducted the study to see how much children and adolescents were exposed to smoking scenes and tobacco imagery through media.

The data revealed that 53.3 percent of dramas, 50.4 percent of films and 50 percent of webtoons depicted smoking

“Children and adolescents exposed to smoking scenes repeatedly are more likely to try smoking,” a ministry official said. “We urge entertainment content creators and producers to refrain from showing smoking in content rated for minors.”