Key Takeaways
- South Korea’s revised Tobacco Business Act will take effect on April 24 and will bring synthetic nicotine liquid vapes into the legal tobacco category.
- Industry participants said liquid vape retailers that previously operated without tobacco retail designation will now need to meet tobacco retailer qualification requirements.
- One wholesaler said its retailer membership grew from about 300 in 2018 to 2,084 last month.
- The Korea Electronic Cigarette Industry Association said some stores may close because existing sales networks are already dense and new retailer designation is difficult to obtain.
- The report said the industry is also concerned about a possible shift in demand toward nicotine-free and similar-nicotine products that remain outside regulation.
2Firsts, April 13, 2026
According to Sedaily, South Korea’s liquid vape industry is facing tighter institutional control as the revised Tobacco Business Act takes effect on April 24, bringing a previously lightly regulated segment under formal supervision.
Synthetic nicotine liquid vapes will be treated as legal tobacco
The report said the core of the legal revision is the expansion of the definition of tobacco from conventional cigarettes to a broader range of tobacco- and nicotine-based products. As a result, synthetic nicotine liquid vapes, which had not previously been classified as legal tobacco, will now be subject to the same government oversight as conventional cigarettes.
Retail stores may face closure risks
According to the report, synthetic nicotine products had been outside the legal tobacco category, allowing stores to operate without separate tobacco retailer designation, while online and social media sales and promotion were also left largely unchecked. One wholesaler said its number of retailer members had grown from about 300 in 2018 to 2,084 last month, nearly a sevenfold increase.
Once the revised law takes effect, liquid vape retailers will need to satisfy tobacco retailer designation requirements. Industry sources said that because existing retail networks, including convenience stores, are already dense, new registrations will be difficult. Although the government is offering a two-year grace period on distance restrictions and is pursuing tax reductions, the response in the field has been cold. A Korea Electronic Cigarette Industry Association representative said many stores may fail to enter the formal system and may end up closing.
The report added that actual closures are already emerging. One store owner in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District, who had operated a vape shop for 10 years, recently decided to close because meeting retailer registration requirements after the revision would be difficult. Data submitted by the Seoul government to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Sang-hoon showed that tobacco retail applications over the past five years fell from 1,391 in 2024 to 995 last year.
Manufacturers face higher tax burdens and price pressure
The report said manufacturers are also expected to be hit hard. Because synthetic nicotine liquid vapes will become subject to the same tax-related charges as conventional tobacco products, price increases are seen as unavoidable, and the industry expects demand to weaken.
Nicotine-free and similar-nicotine products may see a substitution effect
At the same time, some inside and outside the industry view the regulatory tightening as a necessary normalization step after a period of rapid market growth in a regulatory gap.
However, the report said concern remains over nicotine-free and similar-nicotine products that are still outside the regulatory framework. These products are often distributed through person-to-person transactions on online and social media channels, making them difficult to control. Some nicotine-free vape businesses have even used exaggerated claims such as becoming healthier the more one uses the product, raising concerns about youth access.
Lee Byung-jun, head of the Korea Electronic Cigarette Industry Association, said businesses could try to evade regulation by shifting to similar-nicotine products, and warned that if the market moves toward products whose safety has not been sufficiently proven, the result could be a more dangerous environment.
Industry group has already filed a complaint over nicotine-free product advertising
The report said the Electronic Cigarette Federation filed a complaint on the 7th of this month with the Incheon Nonhyeon Police Station against a nicotine-free vape company identified as Company R for alleged violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. The federation claimed the company sold products without approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and used AI-generated social media advertisements with phrases such as “the more you vape, the healthier you become” and “0% harmful substances,” misleading consumers into believing the products had medical benefits.
The federation said such advertising could violate Article 61(2) of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Vice Chairman Kim Do-hwan said low penalty levels appear to be encouraging companies to continue sales. The report added that while synthetic nicotine products will face stronger offline controls, nicotine-free products are not classified as tobacco and therefore lack a clear legal basis for restricting online sales, creating further concern over online distribution.
Image source: Sedaily
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