  In this paper we study the embedded topology of reducible plane curves having
a smooth irreducible component. In previous studies, the relation between the
topology and certain torsion classes in the Picard group of degree zero of the
smooth component was implicitly considered. We formulate this relation clearly
and give a criterion for distinguishing the embedded topology in terms of
torsion classes. Furthermore, we give a method of systematically constructing
examples of curves where our criterion is applicable, and give new examples of
Zariski tuples.
