Cigarette prices, among the lowest in industrial countries, would rise 80 per cent next year under a plan announced by the government to cut the smoking rate, the Korea Herald said.

A ban on tobacco advertisements by large retailers would accompany the price hike, the Herald said, citing remarks by Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo. The proposal by the ruling coalition would raise the price of cigarettes by KRW 2,000 (EUR 1.49) to an average KRW 4,500.
Sales of tobacco products would fall 34 per cent, according to a ministry estimate cited by the Herald. Future cigarette price increases would be pegged to other consumer prices.
Cigarette prices were last increased in 2004, by KRW 500, the newspaper said. Korea hopes to reduce the adult male smoking rate from 44 per cent to 29 per cent by 2020. The price hike, mostly in the form of tax, would generate an estimated KRW 2.8 trillion for government coffers, the Herald said.