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Video of woman smoking on Jeju bus ignites public outrage

Published: 28 Apr. 2025, 10:44

A video uploaded on social media shows a woman speaking Chinese smoking a cigarette on a bus. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A video showing a woman, believed to be a Chinese tourist, smoking on a city bus in Jeju has triggered public outrage.

On April 18, a user uploaded a video to Instagram, writing, “is this real?” under a post titled “A Chinese tourist smoking on a bus in Jeju.”

The footage shows a woman seated in front of the user, holding a lit cigarette outside the bus window and casually exhaling smoke.

A passenger confronted the woman, saying, “how can you smoke here? Do you know what era we live in? Get off the bus,” while other passengers also expressed their discomfort. The woman was heard speaking in Chinese in the video.

Despite the protests, the woman continued to smoke, flicking ashes outside the window, before eventually tossing the cigarette butt onto the street and closing the window.

The bus driver approached her, warning, “you cannot do that here.”

The video quickly spread across various online communities. Netizens reacted sharply, with comments such as, “smoking is bad enough, but throwing the butt onto the street is unbelievable. The police should have been called,” and “this shows a complete disregard for public order.”

“Not only are people leaving feces on the street but now they are smoking on buses,” another comment read.

A post on Facebook by Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, criticizing the behavior of Chinese tourists. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, criticized the incident, arguing “inconsiderate behavior should be punished as a misdemeanor.”

“Incidents involving inconsiderate behavior by Chinese tourists have been an ongoing issue in Jeju,” Seo wrote on his Facebook account on Monday. “Last year, a Chinese child was defecating in the city, and a woman who appeared to be the mother and her group did not stop the child’s behavior, which caused controversy.”

“A convenience store frequently visited by Chinese tourists was left with piles of trash, such as cup ramen and beverage bottles, all over the place, and this caused public outrage,” Seo wrote.

“Such behavior stems from a lack of global civic awareness among Chinese tourists,” Seo said. “They must reflect on why Chinese tourists are often unwelcome and criticized abroad.”

“We must not simply stand by,” Seo said. “There must be consequences for such inconsiderate actions through penalties for minor offenses to prevent a recurrence.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]