We examined tobacco-related news articles published from the 1890s to the 1940s to explore the background of the tobacco industry and advertisements; the political, social, and economic situation related to tobacco consumption; and antismoking movements. Tobacco first became commercially available in the 1950s and continued to be used for nearly 80 years in Korea. However, the history of smoking cessation spans only 50 years. The long history of smoking represents the extent of harm caused by tobacco addiction, and the short history of smoking also represents the degree of fatal health effects of smoking. The concept of smoking cessation has recently been introduced in Korea. We plan to perform a retrospective study on public health perception regarding tobacco and smoking-cessation campaigns in modern Korean history and suggest directions for managing the current smoking situation and smoking cessation policies.

Smoking history, Smoking-cessation history, Tobacco-related news articles