Korean Govt. to Strengthen Restrictions on Cigarettes

Source from:  Arirang TV & Radio (kr) 03/19/2013

Korea was once a haven for smokers but things are slowly beginning to change.

The country still has the lowest cigarette prices and the highest smoking rate in the OECD but the government is taking steps to remedy the problem.

The National Assembly is currently reviewing plans to increase cigarette prices by 2-thousand wonor roughly two U.S. dollars a pack.

A pack of cigarettes currently costs around 2-dollars-20-cents in Korea.

If the plan gets the go ahead, the extra revenue will be used to restrict cigarette commercials.

In addition, pictures of smoking-related diseases will be shown on cigarette packs.

The government is also considering a variety of non-smoking treatment programs which could be covered by medical insurance. Enditem