Symposium: "Smoking and Lung Cancer, the High-Profile Tobacco Lawsuit"
90% of Koreans Say "Smoking Causes Lung Cancer"
With just one week remaining before the final hearing in the appellate trial of the 50 billion won damages lawsuit filed by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) against tobacco companies, a recent survey found that 6 out of 10 Koreans believe tobacco companies should be responsible for the medical expenses of lung cancer patients.
On May 15, the Korea Medical-Bio Reporters Association held a symposium titled "Smoking and Lung Cancer, the High-Profile Tobacco Lawsuit" at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, in collaboration with the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (President Yoo Gwangha). At the event, they announced the results of a nationwide survey. The survey was conducted online from March 27 to April 15, targeting 1,209 adults aged 20 and over (757 non-smokers, 218 smokers, and 234 former smokers).
Since 2014, the NHIS has been pursuing a lawsuit to recover a total of 53.3 billion won in health insurance benefits from domestic tobacco companies (KT&G, Philip Morris Korea, and BAT Korea). The claim seeks reimbursement for medical expenses paid for 3,465 lung and laryngeal cancer patients who smoked either a 20 pack-year history (one pack per day for 20 years) or for more than 30 years. The final hearing in the appellate trial is scheduled for May 22.
According to the survey results, 45.9% of respondents said they were either "somewhat familiar" (34.2%) or "very familiar" (11.7%) with the NHIS tobacco lawsuit. Another 33.3% said they had "simply heard of it." Among those who said they were very familiar with the case, the proportion was higher among smokers (22.5%) than among non-smokers (7.8%) or former smokers (14.5%). For those who had simply heard of the case, the rates were 39% for non-smokers, 24.4% for former smokers, and 23.4% for smokers.
Regarding the NHIS's claim that tobacco companies should bear medical costs, 63.7% of all respondents agreed. The sense of responsibility attributed to tobacco companies was stronger among smokers than non-smokers. By group, the approval rate was 72.5% among smokers (45.9% for partial responsibility, 26.6% for full responsibility), 59.8% among non-smokers (38.8% for partial, 21% for full), and 68% among former smokers (46.6% for partial, 21.4% for full).
When asked, "Do you think smoking causes lung cancer?" 90% of all respondents answered "yes." In a follow-up question about risk, the response "10 times higher" was chosen by 49.1% of non-smokers, 46.6% of former smokers, and 38.5% of smokers, indicating that non-smokers and former smokers perceive a higher risk of lung cancer from smoking than smokers do.
Regarding the addictiveness of tobacco, 62.8% of smokers, 70.4% of non-smokers, and 66.1% of former smokers answered "very much so." As for the harm of secondhand smoke, around 63% of both non-smokers and former smokers considered it "very harmful," while only half (50%) of smokers shared this view.
At the symposium, Lim Hyunjung, Director of Legal Support at the NHIS, stated, "The NHIS has lost previous tobacco lawsuits due to a combination of factors, including the 2014 Supreme Court ruling, the background of state-owned enterprises manufacturing and selling tobacco, and limitations of the judicial system." She added, "For this case, we have strictly selected subjects based on causality and secured extensive evidence and expert opinions, so we can expect a different outcome from the past."
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