Chunjae Education started to extract an anti-smoking pledge since November -- worth W200,000-W400,000 (about US$200-$400) to staff members. If caught smoking, they have to give back 1.5 times the money received. Park, 39, took the pledge and invested the W400,000 reward in a health club membership. "I'm working hard to quit thinking about cigarettes because I'd have to pay a fine of W600,000," he said. Some 80 of Park's coworkers have taken the pledge, including eight women.

Samsung Electronics' Suwon complex has been running departmental no-smoking clubs, which have rallied some 70 percent of the complex's staff. Members caught smoking at work must pay W5,000, while those caught smoking during company outings must fork out over W10,000. Even if your clothes smell of cigarette smoke, you pay W5,000. Chung Guk-young, 29, is a director of a no-smoking club. "Staff have begun using their camera phones to catch their coworkers smoking," he said. He admits there were complaints that this was going too far, "but as the number of employees who successfully quit smoking increased, there is a mood of satisfaction," he adds.

LG Electronics' Changwon factory has meanwhile assembled an anti-smoking crack squad composed of a doctor, nurse and 15 "health helpers." They check the levels of carbon monoxide of those who joined the company's anti-smoking fund and keep an eye on whether they smoke. About half of the company's roughly 1,800 smokers have joined the anti-smoking fund.

Those who join give up their Lunar New Year bonus of W200,000, but if they successfully quit smoking within the year, they get twice the money. If they fail, their bonus goes to a fund to help the neighborhood's needy.

(englishnews@chosun.com )