Ministry of Health officials said yesterday that the government plans to revise the National Health Promotion Act to ban the sale and advertisement of cigarette packs containing less than 20 sticks, newspaper The Korean Observer reported.
According to unnamed ministry officials, the move to restrict pack size is aimed at discouraging smoking and in particular preventing minors from buying cheaper packs, the newspaper said.
British American Tobacco launched a Dunhill Exotic 14 pack in the Korean market in April 2014 and Japan Tobacco followed with a slim version of the Camel brand.
The government's crack-down on small packs follows the 01 Jan 2015 tax hike where packs were hit with an extra KRW 2,000 (EUR 1.59) tax per piece, increasing average pack price by around 80 per cent.