The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains with us today. "That Day Today" reads the present through the records of the past.
Three years ago today, on May 28, 2023, a man in his 50s who flew into a rage and assaulted high school students while admonishing them for smoking received a suspended prison sentence.
At the time, Judge Song Jong-seon of the Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 1 sentenced A, then 50, to one year in prison suspended for three years, along with 120 hours of community service, on charges of special bodily injury and assault.
A was indicted on charges of grabbing a high school student B by the hair on the evening of September 12, 2022, in Chuncheon, laying him down on a bench, and striking him on the head with a large dog's leash. He also struck another student, C, on the neck, chest, and back of the head, inflicting injuries on both students that required two weeks of recovery.
According to the investigation, A admonished B and others not to smoke after seeing them smoking on a bench, and when they did not listen, he became angry and committed the assault. At the time of the incident, A also struck D, a man in his 20s who tried to stop the assault, with the leash.
"The court took into consideration that the damage has not yet been recovered, that the degree of harm was relatively not serious, and that the defendant has no prior convictions exceeding a fine," the court said in explaining the sentencing.
As such cases of admonishing smoking youths leading to courtroom disputes are not uncommon, police recommend reporting smoking youths rather than directly admonishing them when caught.
Meanwhile, according to the "2026 Youth Statistics" recently released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the smoking rate among middle and high school students last year was 3.3 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous year. What is unusual is that a pattern of "polynicotine consumption," in which youth smokers use conventional cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and liquid e-cigarettes in combination, has emerged.
According to a survey by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the proportion of youth smokers who use both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes was 61.4 percent last year, up from 47.7 percent in 2019. One survey also found that more than 70 percent of youths start using tobacco products with flavored tobacco, such as liquid e-cigarettes.
Until now, liquid e-cigarettes have not been subject to regulation under the Tobacco Business Act, leaving low barriers to youth access. However, with the recent revision of the Tobacco Business Act, liquid e-cigarettes have begun to be classified as tobacco. Expectations are rising that the inclusion of liquid e-cigarettes — which had been cited as a factor driving up the youth smoking rate — in the regulatory net will enhance the effect of blocking youth smoking.
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