A committee meeting in South Korea yesterday to consider ideas for new graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, discussed also whether ‘stronger pictorial warnings’ should be imposed on heat-not-burn products, according to a Yonhap News Agency story.
South Korea is due to change the graphic images on cigarette packs in December.
In 2016, tobacco companies were required to include graphic warnings covering 30 percent of the upper part of both of the main faces of cigarette packs.
Under the requirement, the graphics must be changed every 24 months as part of efforts to maintain their effectiveness, the Ministry of Health and Welfare says.
The new graphic images are due to appear on cigarette packs by December 23, but firstly they must be approved by a committee composed of eight civilian experts and four government officials.
Figures from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development put the smoking rate among South Korean men aged 15 and older at 31 percent in 2015.
This was the highest rate among 15 OECD countries surveyed.
Japan came second with 30 percent, followed by Italy with 25 percent.