Incheon City Takes Action to Prevent E-Cigarette Music Festival

According to a report from South Korean newspaper "Gyeonggi Daily" on September 10th, the Korean E-Cigarette Industry Association (KECIA) planned to hold an e-cigarette music festival in Songshan Park in Yongjong International City, Jung-gu, Incheon in October. However, Incheon City has decided to prevent the event from taking place and has already taken action.

The Municipal Committee stated that KECIA originally planned to hold an e-cigarette music festival called "The 2024 vape-k hip hop Festival" from October 18th to 20th in Songshan Park in the central district. The festival had been held in KINTEX, Goyang City, Gyeonggi-do in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023, but due to opposition from health agencies and local communities, KINTEX in Goyang decided to no longer provide the venue. This year, the festival will be held in Suwon City in October. At the time, the organizers announced various liquid e-cigarette exhibitions and e-cigarette stunt performances.

In July of this year, Incheon city received notice from the Ministry of Health and Welfare for the first time, and after two months of self-inspection, ultimately decided to prevent the event from taking place. The city stated that the e-cigarette music festival could potentially lead to issues such as people smoking in smoke-free areas. Therefore, on the 11th, they will launch a promotional campaign with the city's education bureau, central district government, Incheon Smoke-Free Support Center, and other organizations in various locations to oppose the hosting of the e-cigarette music festival in Incheon city.

Officials from the city expressed, "Although the preparations for the event have not yet visibly begun, we plan to prevent the music festival from taking place in advance through promotional activities and other forms of opposition." In addition, a reporter from the "Keigi Daily" tried multiple times to contact KECIA to understand their position, but was unable to reach them.