Military smokes monopoly runs out of puff
/Courtesy of Twitter
By Lee Han-soo
Foreign cigarettes will now be available to Korean troops, according to military officials Wednesday. This marks the end of a long-lasting monopoly by KT&G, Korea's largest cigarette maker.
“The Post Exchange (PX) will now sell four new types of cigarettes from three companies, including those from the U.S. and Japan,” a military official said.
The cigarettes include “Marlboro Gold Original” from Philip Morris, “Mevius LSS Wind Blue” from Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and “Raison French Black” and “Bohem Cigar Slim Fit Brown” from Korea’s KT&G.
This is the first authorization of foreign cigarettes in the PX in 10 years, after the Ministry of Defense announced it would open cigarette supply contracts to foreign companies.