Seoul to ban smoking at public squares from Wednesday

SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- People will be fined 100,000 won (US$93) starting Wednesday if they are caught smoking in major public squares in downtown Seoul, a measure to heighten public awareness of the health hazards from secondhand smoking, the Seoul metropolitan government said Tuesday. A new municipal ordinance designating three public plazas in the city center -- Cheonggye, Seoul and Gwanghwamun -- as non-smoking zones will go into effect on Wednesday, the government said. City officials will patrol the areas from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day to enforce the ban, it added. The municipal government said it plans to declare 21 city-run parks and 295 bus stops along the bus-only lanes in the capital as non-smoking zones from September. Beginning next year, the city's list of non-smoking zones will be expanded to include 5,715 more bus stops, 1,024 neighborhood parks and areas within a 50 meter radius of schools, according to the local government. The same 100,000 won fine will be imposed on smokers in those places, it said.