http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/south_korea.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=125836&code=Ne2&category=2 http://tobacco.org/news/333598.html Starting today, Philip Morris International Korea will increase its cigarette prices by nearly 7-percent on average. Its flagship brands such as Marlboro, Parliament and Lark will be sold at 2,700 won roughly 2-dollars-and-40-cents a pack, up 200 won. In April and May last year, British American Tobacco Korea, the No. 2 player in the local market, and Japan Tobacco International Korea relayed their price hikes on Dunhill, Kent, Mild Seven and other products by 200 won in general to cope with surging raw material and labor costs. Korea’s tobacco giant, KT&G Corporation however, is set to freeze its cigarette prices for the time being Arirang TV & Radio julz1201@arirangtv.com Korea - South Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreaherald.com/common/redirect.jsp?news_id=20120208001113&category_id= http://tobacco.org/news/333500.html KT&G Corp., Korea's tobacco giant, said Wednesday it planned to freeze its cigarette prices for the time being, citing persistent inflationary pressures. The Seoul-based company has recently been faced with a dilemma as to whether it should follow the lead of its smaller rivals, which relayed price hikes since last year to cope with surging raw material and labor costs. Philip Morris International Korea is set to increase its cigarette prices by 6.8 percent on average starting Friday. Its flagship brands such as Marlboro, Parliament and Lark will be sold at 2,700 won ($2.4) a pack, up 200 won. Korea Herald heeshin@heraldm.com (Shin Hyon-hee) Korea - South Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreaherald.com/common/redirect.jsp?news_id=20120206000987&category_id= http://tobacco.org/news/333448.html British American Tobacco Korea plans to introduce a stronger version of its Lucky Strike cigarettes to boost the nascent brand's presence in the market, the local unit of the multinational group said Monday. The latest product, Lucky Strike Original Filters, will provide a richer and bolder taste than the previous version, and features cork-tipped filters with modern, black packaging, the company said. A pack contains 8 milligrams of tar and will be sold for 2,500 won ($2.20) starting Wednesday. Korea Herald heeshin@heraldm.com (Shin Hyon-hee) Korea - South Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120206000987 http://tobacco.org/news/333353.html British American Tobacco Korea plans to introduce a stronger version of its Lucky Strike cigarettes to boost the nascent brand's presence in the market, the local unit of the multinational group said Monday. The latest product, Lucky Strike Original Filters, will provide a richer and bolder taste than the previous version, and features cork-tipped filters with modern, black packaging, the company said. A pack contains 8 milligrams of tar and will be sold for 2,500 won ($2.20) starting Wednesday. Korea Herald heeshin@heraldm.com (Shin Hyon-hee) Korea - South Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreaherald.com/common/redirect.jsp?news_id=20120202001016&category_id= http://tobacco.org/news/333082.html Philip Morris International Korea's recent plan to raise its cigarette prices is fueling concerns over inflation as rumors swirl that its bigger rival KT&G will soon follow suit. The Korean unit of the U.S. tobacco giant is to slap an unexpected price increase averaging 6.8 percent starting Feb. 10 to offset rising raw material and labor costs. The hike, the first in seven years, will send the prices of Marlboro, Parliament and Lark to 2,700 won ($2.4) a pack from the current 2,500 won. Virginia Slims, a super-slim cigarette brand, will be sold at 2,900 won per pack, up 100 won from before. The PMI's decision comes seven months after its competitors -- British American Tobacco Korea and Japan Tobacco International Korea -- raised the prices of their flagship products by 200 won. The focus is now turning on KT&G Corp., the country's largest tobacco manufacturer that controls nearly 60 percent stake in the domestic market. Korea Herald heeshin@heraldm.com (Shin Hyon-hee) Korea - South Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://delayedquotes.cboe.com/news/news_story.html?idnews=219039788&ASSET_CLASS=&ID_OSI=&ID_NOTATION= http://tobacco.org/news/332326.html KT&G Corp. (KSE:033780), South Korea's largest tobacco manufacturer, said Thursday its 2011 earnings fell 20.7 per cent from a year earlier despite solid sales gains. Net income came to 816.9 billion won (US$718.7 million) in 2011, compared with a profit of 1.03 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profits also dipped 1.7 per cent on-year to 1.12 trillion won last year, while sales gained 7.6 per cent to 3.72 trillion won. "The drop is mainly due to less stock holdings sold last year compared to 2010," the company said. Asia Pulse adsales@cboe.com Korea - South Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/tobacco_unfiltered/post/2012_01_18_esse/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tobacco_unfiltered http://tobacco.org/news/332233.html The newest brand, ESSE Sense, is marketed as a low-tar cigarette with a filter supposedly designed to block tar and nicotine for a "refreshing taste." Sold in 40 countries, ESSE cigarettes continue the tobacco industry's long history of making deceptive claims that "light" and "low tar" cigarettes are less harmful than others, when they are not. The super-slim marketing also targets women with messages that portray smoking as attractive, empowering and stylish. The tactics are reminiscent of the tobacco industry's earlier marketing campaigns, such as the infamous Virginia Slims brand marketing, which lured a generation of women in the West to become smokers. Now the industry is targeting women in emerging markets, where smoking rates among women typically are lower than those among men but are showing marked increases in some countries. ESSE cigarettes dominate the tobacco market in South Korea and are gaining popularity in countries including Russia, Ukraine, and Indonesia. In 2010, KT&G sales of ESSE brands increased by 44.5% to 42.2 billion cigarettes. The company is expanding across the globe. It has factories in Turkey, Russia and Iran turning out billions of cigarettes. And it recently bought a controlling stake in an Indonesian tobacco company. Advocates and governments around the world must act now to prevent a new generation of women and girls from seeing cigarettes as glamorous, when in fact they cause disease and death. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids unfiltered@tobaccofreekids.org Korea - South Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/11/south-korean-anti-smoking-activists-ask-constitutional-court-to-ban-all-tobacco-sales/ http://tobacco.org/news/332041.html A group of seven anti-smoking activists asked South Korea's Constitutional Court on Wednesday to completely ban the sale of tobacco in that country, claiming that a constitutional "right to health" should render invalid any law permitting tobacco-related commerce. South Korea's Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Ministry banned smoking in 16 kinds of public places in March 2011 in a bid to lower the male smoking rate from 47 percent to 20 percent. Those places included the nation's largest buildings, hotels, schools, sports arenas, large restaurants, comic book stores, government buildings, train stations and airports. Previously, most public places in South Korea had separate smoking sections, but the result of the new law has made lighting up in public practically impossible in most urban centers. Violators of the anti-smoking law can be fined $90 for a first offense. The new constitutional argument comes as health-related lawsuits and new tobacco taxes have become common in the Asian nation. But it marks the first attempt to completely ban the manufacture and sale of tobacco products there. The Daily Caller Korea - South Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/244355/news/world/south-korea-activists-seek-court-ban-on-cigarette-sales http://tobacco.org/news/332040.html South Korean anti-smoking activists have gone to the constitutional court to try to shut down the country's cigarette industry, a court official said Thursday. Nine people, led by the former director of the National Medical Center Park Jae-Gahb, urged the court to review the tobacco law which they said infringes people's rights to health and happiness. Their petition against the law, which governs the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, was filed Wednesday. It was unclear when the court would make a ruling. "The harmfulness of cigarettes has been scientifically proven, but the government allows their production, sales and import rather than trying to find solutions to protect its citizens' health," said a statement from the group. Agence France Presse advertise@gmanmi.com Korea - South Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/513476.html http://tobacco.org/news/331787.html Plans are under way to legally require the display of cigarette additives known to cause addiction by causing smoke to be inhaled more directly into the lungs or improving the cigarette's taste. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that current laws on cigarettes "are lacking in cigarette safety management, with no standards for managing the various cigarette additives with harmful ingredients, or regulations requiring their display." The ministry said it plans to develop legislation to require the display and management of ingredients. Choe Jong-hui, the head of the ministry's task force on smoking policy, explained, "There has been a lack of management over the years to protect citizen health from the cigarette manufacturing stage." The Hankyoreh englishhani@hani.co.kr (Kim Yang-joong, Medical Correspondent) Korea - South Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/12/113_101068.html http://tobacco.org/news/330810.html Smokers caught lighting up on footpaths in Seoul will be fined as the municipal government plans to revise a related ordinance to protect non-smokers from the health hazards of secondhand smoke. The Seoul Metropolitan Council will amend anti-tobacco rules to include sidewalks and footpaths in the list of the city's no-smoking zones, and submit the revision to the relevant standing committee in February at the earliest, an official from the council said Sunday. “The right to smoke should be respected,” said city counselor Nam Jae-kyong from the ruling Grand National Party. “But we proposed the revision because health hazards from secondhand smoke are more serious.” In two recent surveys, over 80 percent of citizens said they were in support of the ban on smoking on footpaths, Nam said. Korea Times e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr (Kim Tae-jong) Korea - South Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/510797.html http://tobacco.org/news/330673.html Seoul is seeking to expand its non-smoking zones to include sidewalks and pedestrian roads, city officials said Sunday. The city council of the nation's capital said it has introduced an ordinance on amending the current regulation that curbs second-hand smoking on streets. The ordinance is expected to reach the relevant standing committee at the council in February at the earliest. Under the revision, the city's non-smoking areas will include sidewalks and pedestrian pathways as defined by the traffic law. The Hankyoreh Korea - South Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreaherald.com/common/redirect.jsp?news_id=20111215000807 http://tobacco.org/news/330604.html The images chosen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are captioned with simple text warning cigarette buyers about the known consequences of their habit. One depicts a recently autopsied cadaver and states simply, "Smoking can kill you." In Korea, the Ministry of Health and Welfare launched the slogan, "No smoking is common sense, even if no one tells you so." A total of 340,638 spots nationwide, including Seoul, Gwanghwamun and Cheonggye plazas in central Seoul, are designated smoke-free areas. A free call center is in operation to help smokers ditch their cigarettes while local public health care centers monitor those in need of around-the-clock advice. "If some foods were found with just a single carcinogen, people would panic and demand the government monitor their distribution and management tightly. They might ask for sales ban, too," said lawyer Bae Geum-ja in a previous interview with The Korea Herald. "But when it comes to cigarettes, people are numb and think it is a matter of choice." Korea Herald baejisook@heraldm.com (Bae Ji-sook) Korea - South Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2011/12/182_100018.html http://tobacco.org/news/330541.html British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea was recognized as an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certified by the Korea Custom Services. This is the first time for a tobacco company to garner the AEO certification, which is designed by the World Customs Organization to recognize outfits for successfully securing international trade flow. The certification was awarded Friday at Busan Main Custom Service. The certification gained weight internationally after trade security measures were strengthened in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. It was first introduced to Korea in 2009. Korea Times voc200@koreatimes.co.kr (Kim Tae-gyu) Korea - South Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2945024 http://tobacco.org/news/330540.html British American Tobacco Korea (BAT Korea) yesterday became the first tobacco company in Korea to be certified as an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) company by the Korea Custom Services. Companies that are certified as AEOs receive various benefits that allow them to save both time and money in terms of their logistical operations. It also makes their customs inspections more convenient. Joong Ang Ilbo Korea - South Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT