A bill restricting people under the age of 25 from appearing in advertisements for alcoholic beverages has passed a key committee vote, and will become law if approved in the National Assembly, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports.
That means 21-year-old singer Lee Ji-eun, known to her fans as UI, would have to stop advertising a popular brand of soju liquor, the paper says. According to Chosun Ilbo, the bill was proposed after skater Kim Yuna helped advertise a brewery when she was 22 years old, leading lawmakers to question whether young idols could be enticing teenagers to drink.
The bill comes at a time where government figures show drinking levels are at an all-time high in South Korea, CNBC Asia-Pacific reports. Locals drink 13.7 shots of liquor per week, twice as much as Russian drinkers. Alcohol consumption is particularly high among young women, with 64.8% of women in their twenties saying they drink regularly, and one-in-ten admitting they are heavy drinkers, the Korea Times says.
A Seoul Metropolitan Government survey cited young women as saying that their alcohol consumption was the combined result of stress and "the necessities of social life".
