According to South Korean media hani, the sales of heated non-combustible pods in South Korea have increased by 6.8 times from 2017 to 2022, growing from 78.7 million boxes to 538.6 million boxes. In just the first half of this year (January to June), 292.6 million boxes were sold, and it is predicted that the annual sales volume in 2023 will exceed 600 million boxes for the first time.
In contrast, sales of traditional cigarettes fell by 10.3% from 3.44 billion boxes in 2017 to 3.09 billion boxes in 2022.
According to a survey conducted in November 2022 on 8,000 adults aged 20 to 69 in South Korea, smokers generally believe that, compared to traditional cigarettes, heated tobacco products have a lesser negative impact on health. The survey found that 26.6% of users of heated tobacco products believe that the "indirect inhalation risk is relatively small" for this type of product.
In addition, 18.2% of people believe that it has "minimal impact on health," while 14.2% believe that it "helps with quitting smoking." However, among non-smokers who have never smoked, the corresponding responses for heat-not-burn products are 16.5% and 11.5%.
Director of the Tobacco Control Research and Education Center in South Korea, Lee Sung-gyu, has pointed out that the tobacco industry has been disseminating unverified information through various marketing tactics, claiming that heated non-burning products have no toxic exposure. He also emphasized the need to consider different smoking behaviors, not just limited to heated non-burning products, when formulating tobacco control policies.
The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) released an analysis of emissions from heated, non-burning products in 2018. The report concluded that there is no evidence, based on a comprehensive evaluation of international studies including those from the World Health Organization, to suggest that these products are safer than regular cigarettes. The analysis also detected the presence of carcinogenic substances such as benzopyrene and benzene in these products, which, like conventional cigarettes, may pose various health risks.
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