Cycle 5 – Item 228

21 (Thu) August 2014

Rolls

2.5

at Somerset Palace

-Susong, Jongro, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with meeting participants

Mission to Korea: Informal Round-Table Meeting on Litigation as a Tool for Tobacco Control + International Symposium on Tobacco Control & Law + Personal Deviation: Day 2 of 5 (see also DT)

• Day 1 (5.227 Stars)
• Day 2 (5.228 Rolls)
• Day 3 (5.229 Really Good Food)
• Day 4 (5.230 johndory Fish & unseasoned Chips)
• Day 5 (5.231 Bibimbab)

In Seoul.  For my first mission to Korea, I’ve been dispatched to support back-to-back meetings on tobacco control, Thursday and Friday, specifically in relation to the recent lawsuit filed by Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) against the tobacco industry to recover costs of health care arising from the treatment of tobacco-related diseases.  Spending the weekend with W and the kids, then back to Manila on Sunday.

Informal Round-Table Meeting on Litigation as a Tool for Tobacco Control in the Republic of Korea.  Hosted by NHIS.  Experts in public health, medicine, and law, including those with extensive tobacco litigation experience in the United States, as well as civil society groups and other key stakeholders, gathered behind closed doors to examine previous lawsuits in Korea and in America and to strategize on the current case.  I hope that the recommendations from the meeting will prove useful to NHIS as they proceed with their case.

After the meeting, dinner was also hosted at the Sommerset.

The food was interesting.  Half of the items consisted of hors d’oeuvres, all rolled in some fashion, heavy on veg, but also containing seafood and meat, not exactly Korean, not exactly Western, a kind of fusion appetizer that’s becoming more popular these days, especially at meals targeting foreigners, though I’ve never seen them done to this extent and variety.  I wouldn’t say that they were particularly good, but I could appreciate the artistry.  The Americans were probably thinking, “Where’s the Korean BBQ?

(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)