Korea Anti-Smoking Society Proposes Five Tobacco Control Legislation Tasks

In a news brief from N News on June 17th, the Korean Anti-Smoking Association proposed five legal tasks aimed at preventing smoking and promoting smoking cessation to the 22nd National Assembly at a recent spring academic conference. The association hopes to actively promote the amendment and establishment of relevant laws in the next four years to further strengthen the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products.

The five proposed legislative measures include:

Revision of Article 2 of the Tobacco Business Act: The definition of "tobacco" will be revised to include synthetic nicotine products in the regulatory scope, addressing the deficiencies of current regulations. Flavored tobacco will be prohibited to prevent the behavior of enticing young people and children to start smoking through the addition of flavors. Tobacco displays will be banned in convenience stores and other retail outlets to limit the visibility of tobacco products at points of sale, reducing opportunities for the public, particularly minors, to come into contact with them. Plain packaging without advertising will be required for standardized cigarette packaging, simplifying and unifying packaging to remove attractive designs and reduce the appeal of tobacco products. Disposable e-cigarettes will be banned to curb their use and sales and reduce their appeal to young people. According to statistics from the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, a total of 67 bills related to tobacco regulation were proposed in the 21st National Assembly (including 4 government proposals and 63 member proposals), but only 3 were ultimately passed.

The three bills that have been passed are as follows:

Expanding the application scope of the National Health Promotion Contribution Fund: from traditional tobacco leaves to include stem and root materials (effective in August 2021). Expanding smoke-free zones around educational facilities: to protect minors from the effects of tobacco smoke (effective in August 2024). Enacting the Tobacco Harmful Ingredients Management Law: to analyze and disclose the harmful components of tobacco (effective in November 2025). Although the enactment of the Tobacco Harmful Ingredients Management Law is the result of over a decade of efforts by the Ministry of Health and the Anti-Smoking Association, the law faces challenges regarding some "toxin clauses". Under the current Tobacco Industry Law, the law applies only to products defined as "tobacco". Therefore, synthetic nicotine products, which dominate the market, as well as recently emerged nicotine-free liquids (including nicotine analogues), are not within its regulatory scope. This allows these products to potentially evade legal oversight, weakening the effectiveness of the law.

Therefore, the Korean Anti-Smoking Association urges that the Tobacco Hazardous Ingredients Management Act must be revised before its implementation, prioritizing the amendment of the Tobacco Business Act to ensure effective regulation of all tobacco and nicotine products, preventing the law from becoming a "half-baked" legislation.