Restaurants to be denied sale of tobacco in July

The sale of cigarettes will be prohibited at restaurants, bars, and PC rooms starting in July and those found to be violating the ban will be subject to fines of two million won, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said Tuesday. Officials said that a revised bill on the tobacco business law was likely to pass in Thursday`s National Assembly plenary session.

Although the current tobacco business law allows owners of such establishments to sell cigarettes, sales will be outlawed when the revised bill goes into effect this July, a ministry official said.

Amid the liberalization of tobacco import restrictions and growing competition among cigarette producers, owners of large restaurants, bars, entertainment spots and PC rooms have been accused of boosting tobacco consumption among both youths and adults. In a bid to alleviate this problem, the ministry included the new restriction on sales in the revised bill.

Kwon Soon-Hwal shkwon@donga.com