Market & legal data of the tobacco alternative sector in South Korea

5th September 2024: South Korea: A group of ten members of parliament from the opposition Democratic Party of Korea has introduced a bill seeking to ban the sale of tobacco and nicotine products in stores offering them through vending machines but at the same time not operated by any retailer (unmanned stores).
30th July 2024: US - General: Philip Morris International (PMI) has announced a collaboration with KT&G, a South Korean manufacturer of tobacco and nicotine products. The companies have formalised a non-binding memorandum to collaborate on regulatory submissions to commercialise KT&G’s heated tobacco products (HTPs) in the US. This means both companies will work together on premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for these products.
15th July 2024: South Korea: A group of ten members of parliament from the ruling party, the People Power Party, has introduced a bill amending the Tobacco Business Act to regulate products composed of synthetic nicotine. In May, the government announced its plans to close the legal loophole that allows products containing synthetic nicotine to be freely circulated in the country because the current definition of tobacco-derived products only encompasses naturally derived nicotine.
21st June 2024: South Korea: Yesterday (20th June), the Ministry of Health and Welfare updated the health warnings that heated tobacco, oral tobacco and nicotine pouches must carry. The new requirements, which are updated every two years, will apply from 23rd December 2024 to 22nd December 2026.
9th November 2023: South Korea: The Tobacco Harmful Ingredients Disclose Bill was signed into law by the Cabinet on 31st October. The bill obliges manufacturers and importers of all tobacco and nicotine products to test every product for harmful ingredients every two years and submit the results, alongside information on raw materials and additives used, to the Ministry of Health. These requirements enter into force on 1st November 2025.
9th October 2023: South Korea: On 6th October, the parliament approved the Tobacco Harmful Ingredients Disclose Bill. If the government signs the bill into law, it would oblige manufacturers and importers of heated tobacco and nicotine pouches to test every product for harmful ingredients every two years and submit the results, alongside information on raw materials and additives used, to the Ministry of Health. The ministry would need to establish a basic framework for the method of analysis, disclosure and use of ingredients. The bill would enter into force two years after its publication in the Official Gazette.
24th April 2023: South Korea: The government has ruled out the possibility of raising the tax applicable to heated tobacco products, as proposed by the minister of finance last week, press reports.
24th April 2023: South Korea: Eleven MPs from the ruling party, the People's Power Party, introduced a bill last week seeking to reduce the National Health Promotion Tax applicable to nicotine pouches from KRW534.5 ($0.40) per g to KRW294.4 ($0.22) per 20 pouches, as, according to them, consumer accessibility to these reduced-risk products is burdened by an excessively high tax.
19th April 2023: South Korea: Deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance Choo Kyung-ho said yesterday that heated tobacco products should be taxed at the same level as combustible cigarettes, press reports. Heated tobacco products are currently treated as any other tobacco product, but are taxed differently.
28th February 2023: South Korea: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDC) last week published a report on the use of flavoured e-cigarettes, in which it called for tighter regulation of flavoured tobacco products.
23rd January 2023: South Korea: A bill was introduced last week seeking to reduce the national health promotion tax on snus and nicotine pouches from KRW534.50 ($0.43) to KRW56.10 ($0.046) per g.
28th September 2022: South Korea: The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency today warned of an increasingly widespread use by young people of flavoured tobacco products, which it says are a gateway to smoking. The agency refers to a study showing a 12% increase between 2016 and 2022 in the use of flavoured tobacco products by smokers aged 13-39.

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