E-cigarettes in South Korea

South Korea: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDC) last week published a report on the use of flavoured e-cigarettes, calling for tighter regulation of flavoured tobacco products.

South Korea: The Customs Service today announced that it will consult with the relevant ministries to revise the relevant laws to include synthetic nicotine under the definition of tobacco. The authority says it has developed a precise method of analysis to determine whether the nicotine contained in e-liquids is natural or synthetic, in response to importers of e-liquids falsely declaring tobacco-derived nicotine to be synthetic in order to avoid taxes.

South Korea: The Electronic Cigarette Association announced today that it is suing the Ministry of Health and Welfare over its 2019 recommendation to stop using e-cigarettes, press reports. “By giving a false perception that e-cigarettes are as harmful as tobacco, they are causing enormous economic and psychological damage to small business owners who sell e-cigarettes”, the association argues.

South Korea: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency today warned of an increasingly widespread use by young people of flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, which it says are a gateway to smoking. The agency refers to a study showing a 12% increase between 2016 and 2022 in the use of flavoured tobacco products by smokers aged 13-39.

South Korea: E-cigarette health warnings remain unchanged following a decision by the National Health Promotion Policy Deliberative Committee to change pictorial warnings on tobacco products.