South Korea to add kidney cancer warning to cigarette packs

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Sunday that it has revised the notice governing warning images and text on cigarette packaging, with the updated labels set to take effect Dec. 23 after a six-month grace period.

Health warnings on cigarette packs — a system that uses graphic images and text to discourage smoking and prevent non-smokers from taking up the habit — were first introduced in Canada in 2001 and are now in use in 138 countries as of 2025.

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, prompting the ministry to introduce the next set, which will run from Dec. 23 through Dec. 22, 2028.

For cigarettes, the revised warnings drop the sexual dysfunction image — which the ministry said was difficult to depict intuitively — and add kidney cancer as a new health risk.

Warning text has also been rewritten to state health consequences more directly rather than merely implying them, sharpening public awareness of the dangers of smoking. For example, the phrase "the road to lung cancer" will be replaced with "smoking ends in lung cancer."

"We hope the new health warning messages taking effect Dec. 23 will further raise public awareness of the harms of tobacco and the health risks it poses," said Kim Han-suk, director general of health policy at the ministry. "We will continue to review and pursue tobacco regulation policies in line with international standards, including expanding the size of warning images, broadening the scope of health warnings to cover tobacco devices, and introducing plain packaging."