53.3 Billion Won Tobacco Lawsuit: Appeals Court Ruling to Be Delivered on the 15th, 12 Years After Filing

[Financial News] The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)'s 53.3 billion won damages lawsuit against major tobacco companies will see its appellate verdict delivered in the middle of this month, 12 years after the case was first filed.
According to legal sources on the 1st, the Seoul High Court has scheduled the appellate ruling for the damages suit filed by the NHIS against KT&G Corporation, Philip Morris Korea Inc., and British American Tobacco Korea for the 15th of this month.
The NHIS filed the lawsuit in April 2014, seeking to hold tobacco companies socially responsible for the harms of smoking and to prevent losses to the health insurance fund.
This case drew attention as the first tobacco lawsuit in Korea in which a public institution acted as the plaintiff. However, in November 2020, the court dismissed the NHIS's claim in the first trial, siding with the tobacco companies.
The court ruled that the NHIS could not claim damages as a direct victim and did not recognize a causal link between smoking and cancer, nor any design or labeling defects in the tobacco products. The court also rejected the argument that tobacco companies had concealed or downplayed the addictiveness of their products.
In response, the NHIS filed an appeal in December 2020 and, over the nearly five-year appellate process, focused on proving the harmfulness of tobacco and the manufacturers’ liability.
The 53.3 billion won in damages represents the medical expenses paid by the NHIS between 2003 and 2012 for 3,465 patients diagnosed with lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma) or laryngeal cancer, all of whom had smoked at least a pack a day for over 20 years.
Jung Ki-seok, a pulmonologist and president of the NHIS, personally attended the final hearing and stated, "It is disheartening that we are still discussing the addictiveness of tobacco in 2025," asserting that tobacco companies bear direct responsibility for the development of lung cancer.
In contrast, a lawyer representing the tobacco companies argued in the final hearing, "Smoking is a personal choice, and those who chose to smoke can still quit if they wish. The low success rate of quitting does not mean that people have lost their free will to stop smoking."


theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter