Starting Apr. 24, liquid e-cigarettes that use synthetic nicotine will be subject to the same regulations as regular cigarettes. If a person vapes a liquid e-cigarette in a no-smoking area, the person may face fines of up to 100,000 won.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 3rd that, as a follow-up to the revision of the Tobacco Business Act, it will enforce related regulations under the National Health Promotion Act, including these measures, starting Apr. 24.
Accordingly, tobacco manufacturers and import distributors must place warning images and phrases on the packaging and advertising of all tobacco products.
Tobacco advertising is allowed only on a limited basis: in periodicals such as magazines (no more than 10 times per year per product category), sponsorship of events (product advertising prohibited), inside retail stores, and on international airplanes and passenger ships. Advertising and event sponsorship targeting women or minors is prohibited.
Advertisements may not include expressions that recommend or induce smoking; depictions of women or minors; content that contradicts warning phrases; or content implying unverified health effects. If flavoring substances such as menthol or fruit flavors are included, it is also prohibited to use wording, images, or photos that emphasize them on packaging or in advertising.
Violations of health warnings or advertising regulations are punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won, and violations of the ban on indicating flavoring substances are subject to fines of up to 5 million won.
Regulations on smokers will also be strengthened. In no-smoking areas, the use of all tobacco products—cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and liquid e-cigarettes—is fully prohibited. Violations are subject to fines of up to 100,000 won.
Cigarette vending machines may be installed only when designated for retail, and may not be installed in places where those under 19 are prohibited from entering or outside retail stores. All vending machines must be equipped with age-verification devices.
Until now, tobacco regulations under the National Health Promotion Act applied only to tobacco as defined by the Tobacco Business Act. The existing law defined tobacco as "a product made into a state that can be smoked by burning, inhaling, or vaping using tobacco leaves as a raw material," excluding e-cigarettes using synthetic nicotine from regulation.
Accordingly, the law was revised to expand the definition of tobacco to "products using tobacco or nicotine as a raw material." It is the first time in 37 years since the Tobacco Business Act was enacted in 1988. The amendment passed the National Assembly plenary session on Dec. 2 last year and was promulgated on the 23rd of the same month.
The ministry said the change now allows systematic management of new types of e-cigarettes that had been freely sold and advertised online and offline amid a regulatory gap. In particular, synthetic nicotine e-cigarettes have drawn persistent criticism for easy youth access and the health risks they pose.
Jeong Hye-eun, director of the Health Promotion Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "With this legal revision, we have closed blind spots in tobacco control and established a basis to respond to a rapidly changing tobacco market," and urged, "Smokers, and retailers of tobacco and nicotine products, as well as manufacturers and import distributors, should actively comply with tobacco regulations."