Does smoking warning labels help quit smoking in Korea?

According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, last year’s domestic tobacco sales dropped by 3.8% from the previous year, from 3.66 billon packs in 2016 to 3.52 billion in 2017. (A huge number considering South Korea’s population of 51.7 million.) The Ministry explains that the decrease was due to the consumer price rise in 2015 and the introduction of warning images in 2016. However, Korea is still among the countries with top smoking rates, and the smokers are willing to buy cigarette cases to hide the warning images.

Image by Ministry of Health and Welfare