SEJONG, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Cigarette taxes have long been used to discourage citizens from smoking and bolster government coffers. Either way, they’re usually a win-win strategy for both parties. The Korean government raised its cigarette taxes in 2015 by almost doubling the price of cigarettes from 2,500 or 2,700 won ($2.23) per pack [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – A government report on Wednesday predicted a second straight year of cigarette sales increase in 2017 despite a price hike meant to discourage smoking, giving the state more revenue from taxes levied on each pack. In the report submitted to the parliament by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean tax authorities are investigating foreign tobacco companies over suspicions that they evaded taxes on huge profits from a tobacco price hike last year, industry sources said Tuesday. Citing the need to discourage smoking, South Korea marked up taxes levied on cigarettes by 2,000 won (US$1.79) in January [...]
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) – May 31 was World No Tobacco Day. Korea also celebrated the event’s 29th anniversary with various stop-smoking events across the country. The Ministry of National Defense announced a policy to reduce soldiers’ smoking rate from the current 40 percent to 30 percent by 2020. It is offering leave to [...]
SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government announced a package of anti-smoking measures on Tuesday that would affect electronic cigarettes as well. It will also push for the revision of health-related laws to tighten control on ads for cigarettes, especially near schools, under the plan unveiled jointly by the Ministry of Health [...]
SEOUL, April 14 (Korea Bizwire) – After a rule change from the Korean army that opened cigarette sales on military bases to foreign companies, both the domestic tobacco industry and tobacco farms are up in arms. A total of 20 different types of cigarettes are supplied to the army PX. The armed forces welfare group evaluates the [...]
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) – The government on Thursday revealed 10 graphic images showing the harmful effects of smoking that must be on cigarette packages for the first time starting at the end of this year. A diseased lung, a hole in a throat, and rotten teeth were among the 10 pictorial warnings unveiled by the [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) – After cigarette prices were raised in 2015, consumers are now purchasing tobacco products directly from foreign countries. According to data from the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, 21,869 parcels containing cigarettes were imposed duties from January to July 2015, which translates to approximately 3,124 parcels per month. The [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s tobacco tax revenue shot up more than 50 percent in 2015 from a year earlier on a spike in cigarette prices, despite weaker sales, the finance ministry said Thursday. The cigarette tax revenue reached 10.5 trillion won (US$8.7 billion) last year, up 51.4 percent from 7 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Korea Bizwire) -- The government said Sunday it is moving to ban small cigarette packs from being sold in the market as part of an effort to discourage smoking. The health ministry said it plans to revise the National Health Promotion Act that will prevent the sales and advertisement of packs with [...]