Korea opts for graphic warnings

The government of South Korea decided yesterday to require tobacco manufacturers to include graphic health warnings on the upper part of cigarette packs, starting from December 23, according to a Yonhap News Agency story quoting the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

A revised enforcement ordinance, which requires the graphic warnings to occupy more than 30 percent of the front and back of cigarette packaging, was passed by Cabinet.

The ordinance stipulates that the graphic warnings should be placed also on packs containing electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

In March, the ministry unveiled 10 pictorial warnings, including one showing a diseased lung and one showing rotten teeth. The warnings have to be rotated every 18 months.