The Blurred Line of Tobacco Regulations in South Korea

The definition of tobacco under South Korea's Tobacco Industry Act's Article 2 states that it is made in a state suitable for smoking, sucking, inhaling steam, chewing or smelling tobacco leaves as the entire or partial raw material. This rule is far from reality, as liquid electronic cigarettes that fall into a legal grey area are invading the market among smokers. It has been pointed out that the Tobacco Industry Act urgently needs to be revised, as these alternative products cannot be considered "similar to cigarettes" and require proper regulation.

Currently, the government only officially counts two types of cigarette sales: traditional cigarettes and heated electronic cigarettes. According to market data from the first half of the year released by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on June 29th, only 1.52 billion packs of traditional cigarettes and 260 million packs of heated electronic cigarettes were sold. The explanation given was that the sales of closed-system vaporizer (CSV) and solid-state electronic cigarettes, which were discontinued last year, are no longer being calculated.

However, there are several e-cigarette products that have escaped the law due to loopholes. If you search on internet portals, you will find liquid e-cigarettes that use nicotine extracted from plant stems and roots, rather than tobacco or chemically synthesized nicotine. It is common to see smokers using these products on the streets. They fall into a category known as "tobacco-like" but are not included in the legal definition of tobacco.

However, I cannot confirm how much they have actually sold. Lee Seong-ki, Director of the Korean Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, stated that "According to estimates, this cigarette-like product accounts for 30-40% of all electronic cigarette products in South Korea." Government market data only tracks cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and does not fully represent the current state of the tobacco industry in South Korea.

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