Some district offices in Seoul plan to designate streets near colleges as nonsmoking zones.

Smoking will be prohibited on a 250-meter pedestrian street in front of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, eastern Seoul, from next year, a Dongdaemun-gu Office official said Monday.

This is the first time that a smoking ban has been imposed on university streets.

In 2003, the 250-meter walkway in front of Sungshin Women’s University, northeastern Seoul, was named a smoke-free zone, but it was not legally binding.

The ban in front of HUFS will come into force in January after a three-month grace period. Violators could be fined 100,000 won ($90).

The district office conducted an opinion survey last week, questioning more than 3,500 citizens around the area whether it should ban smoking on the main street. Nearly 75 percent of respondents approved the measure.

While the floating population near HUFS reaches around 35,000 a day, which is much greater than that of other spots, the width of the street is narrower.

“The 2- to 3-meter-wide street packed by plenty of pedestrians led to inevitable exposure to secondhand smoke,” the official said.

The office has also considered making smoke-free streets around Kyung Hee University, which is located near HUFS. A similar opinion poll will be carried out on Tuesday. Although it is not certain yet, the street is highly likely to be designated as nonsmoking, the official said.

Such legal action, however, has drawn some opposition, with some insisting that the new policy may breach smokers’ rights.

While Dongjak-gu Office in southern Seoul has considered forbidding smoking near colleges and academies, the office has not come up with any schemes due to strong resistance.

“We are not sure of concrete plans since many smokers and street vendors oppose the plan. Vendors argue that their business will be affected by the smoking ban,” said a Dongjak-gu official.

“Nonsmokers’ rights are legally higher than smokers’, which are only valid when they do not harm nonsmokers. We are not banning smoking completely, but only on a pedestrianized street that takes three minutes to walk down,” said the Dongdaemun-gu official who pushed the new policy.

By Lee Hyun-jeong  (rene@heraldcorp.com)