By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
South Korea’s cigarette prices are set to nearly double from January, as the government announced plans to cut smoking Thursday.
Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo revealed that cigarettes are in line for a 2,000 won ($1.93) price hike to around 4,500 won per pack at the start of next year – and increase of 80 percent.
“The smoking rate for Korean males is 44 percent, the second highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] countries,” Moon told a media briefing at Seoul Government Complex. “Still, cigarettes are more than twice as cheap here as the OECD average of 6,500 won.”
The announcement followed talks earlier in the day involving the ruling Saenuri Party – as the price increase will still need parliamentary approval.
Fierce opposition is expected as the country’s second largest party by representation, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), publicly condemned the move as “deceitful.”
According to local news agency Yonhap, the NPAD accused the government of seeking to make ends meet by targeting smokers – among whom low-income earners will be hit hardest.
The health minister has defended the government’s strategy, pointing to a 15 percent smoking rate drop the last time the country’s cigarette prices rose a decade ago.
That was a modest increase of 500 won – Seoul is expecting its January hike to force a 34 percent fall in tobacco product sales, while also raising 2.8 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in tax revenue.
Thursday’s announcement also included a plan to tie cigarettes to wider consumer price inflation, as well as requiring manufacturers to print cautionary photos on their products.
Promotions and adverts by tobacco companies and retailers are also set to be banned – in a country that already restricts public smoking.
Since 2012, a series of prohibitions have limited smoking in both indoor and outdoor spaces, including some of Seoul’s busiest tourist and commuter spots.
The health ministry is aiming to lower the male smoking rate by 15 percentage points to 29 percent by 2020.
Similar legislation on cigarette prices has also taken effect in Turkey over the last six years, with the average price for a 20-pack of cigarettes increasing by 42.1 percent between 2008 and 2012 from 4 lira to 5.70 lira ($2.60), according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in May.
Since regulations against smoking in all indoor spaces went into full effect in July 2009, sales of outdoor heaters to venues with outdoor seating has increased significantly.
In July 2009, a restaurant owner in the southwestern Turkish town of Saruhanli was shot dead by a customer whose cigarettes he had confiscated.
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