South Korea Toughens Cigarette Pack Warnings, Adding Newborn Image for Secondhand Smoke

South Korea will strengthen warning labels on cigarette packs as part of a national anti-smoking campaign to improve public health.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Sunday that it will revise its official notice governing cigarette pack warning images and text Monday, introducing updated graphics and messages. After a six-month grace period, the new warnings will take effect Dec. 23 and remain in place for two years.

Cigarette pack health warnings display the health risks of tobacco use through images and text, encouraging smokers to quit and deterring non-smokers from starting. First introduced in Canada in 2001, the system is now in use in 138 countries as of last year.

South Korea has required such warnings since Dec. 23, 2016, and revises the images and text every two years. The current fifth-cycle warnings expire Dec. 22 this year, prompting the latest revision.

For conventional cigarettes, the updated warnings drop the sexual dysfunction image — deemed difficult to depict intuitively — and introduce kidney cancer as a new health risk. Warning images for five other conditions have also been updated: oral cancer, heart disease, eye disease, peripheral vascular disease and secondhand smoke.

The warning text will shift from suggestive to direct language. The existing phrase "The road to lung cancer" will become "Smoking ends in lung cancer." The same direct format will apply across nine diseases, including "Smoking ends in laryngeal cancer" and "Smoking ends in oral cancer."

The secondhand smoke warning will change from "The road to making others sick" to "The road to making a baby sick," accompanied by a new image of a newborn lying in a hospital bed on oxygen support. By identifying infants as the victims of secondhand smoke, the ministry aims to sharpen the warning's impact.

Both warning images for e-cigarettes have been replaced. The warning text has also been split to more clearly convey each health risk: the existing combined message "Nicotine addiction, exposure to carcinogens!" will be separated into "Nicotine addiction!" and "Risk of cancer!" The changes are intended to strengthen the link between image and text and communicate health risks more effectively.

The new warnings were developed after reviewing domestic and international research, analyzing case studies, and conducting a nationwide sample survey of approximately 2,100 adults and teenagers. The final designs were confirmed after a public notice period, a World Trade Organization technical trade barrier consultation, and reviews by the Smoking Cessation Policy Expert Committee and the National Health Promotion Policy Deliberation Committee.

Kim Han-suk, director general of the Health Policy Bureau, said the ministry hopes the new warnings will sharpen public awareness of the harms and health risks of tobacco. "We will continue to review and pursue tobacco regulation policies in line with international standards," Kim said, citing plans to expand warning image areas on packs, extend warning requirements to tobacco devices and accessories, and introduce plain packaging.