Kim Hyun-bin began his journalism career at Arirang TV from 2012 to 2017, specializing in defense, foreign affairs and the economy. In 2018, he joined The Korea Times, covering society and business, and is currently responsible for embassy affairs.
More smokers switch to electronic cigarettes
By Kim Hyun-bin
By Kim Hyun-bin
In recent years, the Korean government has been working to curb the country's smoking rate by increasing cigarette prices as well as placing gruesome graphics on the packs in efforts to reduce nicotine cravings.
Such efforts seem to be paying off, but not to a great extent.
According to recent government data, the smoking rate for men aged 19 or over was 20.3 percent in 2018, down 0.5 percentage points from 2016.
Cigarette sales have been on a decline for the last two consecutive years as well.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance said 3.1 billion packs have been sold from January to November this year, which is a decline of 50 million packs from the same period last year.
It said the increase in cigarette prices in 2015, from 2,500 won ($2.20) to 4,500 won, led to a steep drop in sales by 1 billion packs to 3.32 billion packs compared to the previous year.
“Since 2015 when the prices increased by 80 percent, sales of conventional cigarettes have been on a sharp decline,” the health ministry said.
Surge in e-cigarette sales
One notable thing is the increasing number of smokers switching to e-cigarettes.
Some 32.5 million electronic cigarettes were sold in November, accounting for 11.3 percent of the total tobacco sales.
It is a drastic surge compared to a year earlier when e-cigarettes only accounted for 7.3 percent of the market, and 8.8 percent in the first quarter of this year.
The ministry said sales of traditional cigarettes have been freefalling since the 2015 price hike, while e-cigarette sales have surged.
However, the National Tobacco Control Center found that many electronic cigarette users also smoked conventional cigarettes, increasing their overall cigarette consumption.
The survey was published in the British Medical Journal in August with a sample size of more than 200 smokers.
Many e-cigarette users started with the intention to stop smoking and thought it was less harmful than conventional cigarettes.
Some 27 countries around the world including the United States, China and Hong Kong have restrictions on e-cigarettes, which they say also contain harmful substances.
Experts say e-cigarettes gained popularity as there is less odor compared to conventional cigarettes.
Harmful ingredients, more gruesome graphics
Nicotine is the primary psychoactive chemical in cigarettes, which is highly addictive. Tobacco is also the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. Cigarettes produce an aerosol containing over 4,000 chemical compounds including 70 carcinogen substances.
On average, each cigarette smoked is estimated to shorten life by 11 minutes, according to Wikipedia. The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100 million deaths in the 20th century.
To give stronger warning about the harmfulness of cigarettes, the government has recently changed the graphic warnings on cigarette packs.
In 2016, Korea made it mandatory for tobacco companies to put pictorial warnings of the side effects of smoking on both sides of cigarette packs. The photos must cover 30 percent of the packaging on both sides.
The government changes the graphic warning signs every two years. This time, 12 new pictures were placed on cigarette packs including e-cigarette packs used for the devices.
The new graphic images show smokers suffering from fatal ailments such as lung cancer, oral cancer, laryngeal cancer, heart attack and stroke. They also carry written warnings about other side effects from smoking including sexual dysfunction and premature death.