Judge says link between lung cancer and cigarette smoking ‘weak’


A local court on Tuesday ruled against a bereaved family who sought damages from the government and state-run tobacco company KT&G over the death of a police officer who died of cancer.

There has never been a successful damages suit against a tobacco firm in Korea.

Judge Han Kyu-hyun of the Seoul Central District Court said that the link between tobacco and lung cancer prevalence is weak. He also dismissed the plaintiff’s claim that the tobacco manufacturer had intentionally concealed the health hazards of the products.

“We reject the claim that the accused has encouraged smoking,” he said in the ruling.

The suit was filed by Lim Won-dan, widow of a police officer surnamed Park, who died of lung cancer in 2000.

The bereaved family demanded a lump-sum pension payment from the National Pension Service. But the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that Lim is not entitled to the compensation because Park’s death was a result of his chain smoking, not related to his duty. Park smoked for more than 30 years.

Lim sued the government, which had exclusive sales rights of tobacco until 2002, and KT&G, the current monopoly, for slack promotion of health risks from smoking tobacco.

In February, an appellate court acknowledged the cause-and-effect relation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, though it exempted the manufacturer from responsibility for the deaths of smokers.

An anti-smoking group took the ruling Tuesday as a step backward in their drive to hold tobacco makers responsible for smokers’ deaths from lung cancer.

“The ruling is an act of overlooking murder,” said Seo Hong-kwan, head of the Korean Association of Smoking and Health.

Park’s bereaved family said they will appeal.

“The tobacco manufacturer is aware of their products’ health hazards. Instead of admitting it, they are blaming individual smokers,” said Jeong Mi-hwa, Lim’s attorney.

Legal battles between tobacco makers and smokers date back to 1954, when the first case was filed in the U.S.

In the 1990s, some courts made favorable rulings for smokers. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the American tobacco firm Philip Morris to pay $50 million to the bereaved family of Richard Boeken, who died of lung cancer after smoking two packs of cigarettes every day since he was 13.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)