Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Retailers moving to dump vaping products
A clerk at a GS25 convenience store in Seoul, unseen, withdraws Juul flavored e-cigarette products from display on Thursday, after the chain decided to suspend sales of four e-liquid products. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
Retailers are moving to stop the sales of flavored e-cigarettes, with the country's No.2 convenience store chain GS25 suspending the sales of liquids for Juul and Lil Vapor, according to industry officials, Thursday.
GS25 said it decided to suspend the sales of Juul's Tropical, Delight and Crisp pods and KT&G's Siid Tundra e-cigarettes for Lil Vapor vaping devices. The retail chain sent letters to its branches across the country and ordered they withdraw the products from their shelves.
GS25 has 13,370 stores across the country as of June this year, following No. 1 CU with 13,529.
The decision came a day after Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo asked the public to stop use liquid type e-cigarettes, citing health concerns.
“As several serious respiratory illnesses and deaths have been reported in the United States and Korea, the government strongly warns against use of e-cigarettes until their link to the diseases is clearly identified,” Park told reporters.
Park's announcement came in the midst of the government's investigation on the health risks of e-cigarettes. The government plans to reveal its findings in November.
GS25 said it plans to suspend the sales until the government announces its findings and then decide whether to resume sales or expand the suspension against other e-liquids too.
“The suspension is tantamount to what the U.S. is practicing on flavored e-cigarettes,” a GS25 official said. “We will put strong standards on products which are related to the public health.”
Over GS25's decision, other convenience stores are also in discussions regarding whether they will follow suit.
“As of now, we are monitoring the progress of the situation, and waiting on the findings from the government investigation,” a 7-Eleven official said.
A retail industry official said suspending the sales is easier said than done, because companies have to take store owners' opinions into consideration, as tobacco sales account for a big portion of stores' sales.
“The findings of the government investigation will play a critical role in convenience stores' decisions,” she said.
In May, Juul Labs made its entry into Korea, sparking industry rivals, including KT&G with Lil Vapor, to roll out vaping devices and liquid e-cigarettes. Currently, 36 e-cigarettes by 11 companies are retailing in the country, but it is believed there are more unregulated products.
In Korea, a suspected case of vaping-related respiratory illness was reported earlier this month. The patient had smoked combustible cigarettes before switching recently to e-cigarettes, but his illness is believed to be related to vaping e-cigarettes.