Jeong Ki-seok, president of the National Health Insurance Service, said on the 15th that after the service also lost the appeal in its 50 billion won damages lawsuit against tobacco companies, it will file a final appeal to seek a Supreme Court ruling again.
After the appellate ruling at the Seoul High Court that day, Jeong told reporters, "I respect the court's decision, but I feel miserable," adding the same.
The Civil Division 6-1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Park Hae-bin, Kwon Sun-min, and Lee Kyung-hoon) on the 15th ruled for the defendants, as the first trial did, in the damages suit filed by the National Health Insurance Service against KT&G, Philip Morris Korea, and BAT Korea.
As in the first instance, the appellate court found that the National Health Insurance Service cannot claim damages against tobacco companies and can only exercise a right of recourse for insurance benefits paid. It also found that even if there is an epidemiological causal relationship between smoking and cancer, it is difficult to recognize an individualized causal relationship between a smoker and the onset of cancer.
Jeong, a pulmonologist, said, "If you smoke, you get lung cancer. Not 100%, but it is a scientific truth everyone knows," adding, "Tobacco companies make countless profits by selling cigarettes, while the public is suffering from cigarettes and even today people are dying in hospital rooms." According to National Health Insurance Service statistics, more than 20,000 people die of lung cancer every year.
Jeong said, "It is as if tobacco companies caused a traffic accident like a hit-and-run driver, injuring and killing many people, and then ran away," adding, "If the state does not protect the public from cigarettes, the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution will inevitably collapse."
Jeong also said the agency plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. Jeong said, "With the resolve to enter a new trial, we will prepare a variety of strategies and respond properly."
Myeong Seung-kwon, president of the Korea Non-Smoking Movement Association, also said that day, "This appellate ruling is an anachronism," emphasizing, "Back in 1998 in the United States, there was a case where tobacco companies concealed the fact that smoking harms health and paid more than 300 trillion won in compensation."
He added, "The current Tobacco Business Act, which ignores the public's health and guarantees the profits of tobacco companies, should be abolished immediately."