Illegal cigarette trade This photo, taken July 4, 2023, shows counterfeit cigarettes at the customs office in Incheon, west of Seoul. The office has arrested a crime ring on suspicion of smuggling 180,000 packs of bogus Esse cigarettes, a brand sold by KT&G Corp., and Chinese-made ones. (Yonhap)
Seizure of cigarettes smuggled to Oceanic nations This photo, provided by the Incheon customs service on May 18, 2021, shows part of around 1,000 cartons of cigarettes that the service seized while they were being smuggled into Australia and New Zealand via international express cargo. (Yonhap)
Christmas tree made of cigarette buttsA member of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, clad in a Santa suit, attends an event in Seoul on Dec. 23, 2019, to install a Christmas tree made of dumped cigarette butts, as the environmental activist group calls for a ban on the use of plastic for cigarette filters as part of efforts to protect the environment from toxic plastic pollution. (Yonhap)
KT&G releases e-cigarette lil hybrid
A model shows off lil hybrid, a new e-cigarette manufactured by KT&G Corp., South Korea’s leading cigarette maker, during a publicity event in Seoul on Nov. 26, 2018. (Yonhap)
North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-un is seen holding a cigarette in this photo capture from the North’s Korean Central TV on Dec. 13, 2017, as he attended the 8th Conference of Munitions Industry in Pyongyang a day earlier. North Korea launched a nationwide anti-smoking campaign last year, but outside watchers say the smoking rate is actually increasing, partly due to Kim’s smoking habit being frequently shown in public. (Yonhap)
It looks like Kim Jong-un is not setting a very good example for North Korea’s recent anti-smoking campaign:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) holding a cigarette with his right hand in a photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 4, 2016. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution.) (Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who is known to be a heavy smoker, has held a cigarette for the first time in months in public, a photo released by the North’s mouthpiece newspaper showed Saturday.
A snapshot of him smoking at the remodeled Mangyongdae Children’s Camp in Pyongyang was published in Rodong Sinmun. Kim was there to promote “Pyongyang Speed,” a term referring to the North’s rapid industrialization, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
He was last seen smoking more than 80 days ago at a test evaluating the heat stability of a homegrown North Korean rocket.
Experts speculated that Kim may have refrained from smoking in front of cameras because the North’s media have been campaigning against that behavior. Rodong Sinmun, in fact, published several stories reiterating the harmful effects of cigarettes between April and May. At one point, local women appeared on the Korean Central Television to denounce smokers as “imbeciles who upset their surroundings.” [Yonhap]
This is the down side of free trade deals that Korean businesses are now experiencing which is competition with foreign brands to include in the tobacco industry:
Local tobacco-makers and farmers on Thursday questioned the Defense Ministry’s approval of foreign cigarettes on Korean military bases, saying it hurts national pride.
A welfare committee of the ministry approved the sale of foreign tobacco brands for the first time.
They include Marlboro Gold Original by U.S.-based Philip Morris, and Mevius LSS Wind Blue by Japanese maker JTI, according to Defense Ministry sources.
This will be the first time that foreign cigarettes are being sold at post exchange stores, effectively challenging the monopoly of KT&G. The move comes 10 years after the bidding process was opened up to foreign manufacturers in 2006.
The new brands approved by the ministry also includes Raison French Black and Bohem Cigar Slim Fit Brown by KT&G. [Korea Herald]
The number of cigarettes released in the domestic market dropped 44.2 percent following price increases in January, data showed Tuesday. [Korea Herald]
Lawmakers will start debating Tuesday whether to make it mandatory for cigarette makers to print photos on cigarette packs showing the dangers of smoking.
The National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee will review the government’s proposal to revise laws so they require warning photos such as damaged lungs or rotten teeth. Currently, tobacco makers are required only to print a health warning.
Observers said there is a good chance the revisions will take place. The government has made 11 unsuccessful attempts to have warning photos on cigarette packs since 2002. [Korea Times]
