A South Korean court Thursday ruled in favor of a local cigarette maker in the longstanding suits filed by ailing smokers and their families against the company, saying there was no evidence to prove smoking caused their illnesses.
They are the first anti-tobacco lawsuits involving individuals in South Korean legal history.
The court said the plaintiffs failed to prove a connection between smoking and cancer they or their family members contracted.
"There is no evidence to prove cigarettes produced and sold by the company had problems in terms of manufacture, design and labeling, and that smoking was the direct cause of their lung or laryngeal cancer," judge Cho Kyung-ran of the Seoul Central District Court said.
In the suits filed separately in September and December of 1999, two groups of 36 plaintiffs sought about 400 million won (US$426,800) in combined damages, accusing the nation's single tobacco maker KT&G Corp. of failing to warn people soon enough about the dangers of smoking and for producing the dangerous, addictive product.
Seven of them were cancer patients but four died of the disease before the ruling came.
The attorney for the plaintiffs, Bae Keun-ja, said she would appeal.
"We cannot accept the ruling denying a tobacco manufacturer's responsibility for lung cancer outbreaks while recognizing the general cause-and-effect relationship of smoking and cancer," Bae said.
But KT&G's lawyer Park Ghyo-sun welcomed the decision, saying "it was a wise judgement as the court recognized there could be many other causes of lung cancer in addition to smoking."
The ruling was also hailed by KT&G.
"The court has made a wise decision, and we uphold it," Park Won-rak, a public relations official for KT&G, told Yonhap News Agency. "We expect the same result even if a similar case arises in the future." If the plaintiffs file an appeal, the future trial is likely to reignite a heated debate about the danger of smoking and the impact of smoking on cancer.
Anti-smoking and consumer rights groups instantly showed strong disappointment.
Lee Bok-geun, chief planning official of the Korean Association of Smoking and Health, said the court ruling "could cause far-reaching havoc to the people by encouraging juveniles or those who already quit smoking to smoke."
"The risks of smoking are known to the entire world," said Jang Gwang-mo, head of the Consumers Union of Korea. "We cannot hide our disappointment at the court ruling."
Seoul, Jan. 25 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean court rules in favor of cigarette maker in tobacco suits |
