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NHIS hands in petition to court signed by 1.5 million people in tobacco lawsuit

Published: 28 Jul. 2025, 10:28

National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) President Jung Ki-suck answers questions from reporters ahead of the 12th hearing of the insurance service's lawsuit against major tobacco companies in Korea on May 22, 2025, at the Seoul High Court in southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) submitted a petition signed by 1.5 million people to the appellate court handling its lawsuit against tobacco companies.

From March 24 to June 30, the NHIS collected signatures from 1,503,668 people — far exceeding its original goal of 1 million, according to the insurance service on Sunday.

The lawsuit began in April 2014, seeking approximately 53.3 billion won ($38.5 million), an amount that the NHIS claims it covered on diseases caused by tobacco.

Among what the NHIS cited as “a stern demand for accountability,” statements were also submitted along with the signatures, such as, “People are clearly suffering from lung cancer, so why have tobacco companies never once taken responsibility?”

The petition was handed in to the Seoul High Court on Friday, along with a written statement from NHIS President Jung Ki-suck, a pulmonologist and former head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. He emphasized the addictive nature of tobacco and the link between smoking and lung cancer — directly refuting tobacco companies’ claims that cigarettes are less addictive than narcotics or that quitting smoking is easy.

“The causal relationship between tobacco use and cancer, or the issue of addiction, is now axiomatic in medicine,” Jung wrote.

Smokers gather at a smoking zone on May 29 in Seoul. [NEWS1]

According to the NHIS, Korea’s standard classification of diseases includes 17 illness codes related to tobacco use, such as “acute poisoning due to tobacco smoking.” Statistically verified smoking-related diseases amount to 45, including esophageal cancer.

“There is hardly any addictive substance that has a worse impact on personal health than tobacco,” Jung said. "The cost burden on the national health insurance system reaches 3.8 trillion won annually, making it the single largest contributor."

"There are also academic findings showing that 98.2 percent of small cell lung cancer patients — the cancer type most strongly linked to smoking — had no identifiable cause of illness other than smoking," he continued. “If, as the defendants claim, smoking was not responsible for these cancers, then what caused them?”

The NHIS filed its damages suit against KT&G, Philip Morris Korea and BAT Korea in April 2014 at the Seoul Central District Court. The 53.3 billion won amount represents insurance payouts for the medical costs of 3,465 patients diagnosed with lung or laryngeal cancer after smoking a pack a day for 20 years or more.

An anti-smoking rally is held on May 22 in front of the Seoul Hgih Court in southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

In November 2020, the court ruled against the NHIS in the first trial, stating that additional evidence was needed to rule out other cancer risk factors such as the patients’ exposure levels, lifestyles and family histories.

The appeals court has yet to set a date for its ruling.

“Among the 3,465 patients, 1,467 had no other identifiable causes of lung cancer besides smoking,” Jung wrote. “To deny causality even for one of them defies common sense and societal norms.”

Speaking with the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday, Jung said, “The national petition proves that public sentiment has coalesced around this issue — now, all that remains is the court’s historic ruling.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHAE HYE-SEON [[email protected]]