Liquid-Type E-Cigarettes Also Banned in Non-Smoking Areas... Intensive Crackdown for Three Weeks

Regulations for Liquid-Type E-Cigarettes Now Aligned with Conventional Tobacco under Revised Tobacco Business Act
Inspection of Cigarette Vending Machine Operations Also Underway

The government will begin monitoring the use of liquid-type electronic cigarettes in non-smoking areas and will intensively inspect compliance with the operational standards for cigarette vending machines.

Yonhap News Agency

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on June 23 that, together with public health centers of local governments nationwide, it will launch a full-scale management and inspection of non-smoking areas and cigarette vending machines until July 15.

This inspection comes as the guidance period, which has been in effect for two months since the revised Tobacco Business Act was implemented on April 24, has come to an end. Considering that this is the early stage of the new system, the government has so far focused on on-site guidance and public awareness activities.

The amended Tobacco Business Act has expanded the definition of tobacco, which was previously limited to products made from tobacco leaves, to now include all products containing nicotine, regardless of whether it is natural or synthetic. As a result, liquid-type electronic cigarettes containing synthetic nicotine are now subject to the same regulations under the National Health Promotion Act as other tobacco products, including restrictions in non-smoking areas, mandatory warning labels, advertising limitations, and installation standards for vending machines.

The use of electronic cigarettes continues to increase. According to the Community Health Survey, the smoking rate for regular cigarettes decreased from 18.9% in 2024 to 17.9% last year, while the usage rate for heated tobacco products rose from 6.0% to 6.3%, and for liquid-type electronic cigarettes from 4.0% to 4.5% over the same period. In particular, the usage rate of liquid-type electronic cigarettes increased by 73.1% over seven years, from 2.6% in 2019 to 4.5% in 2025.

During this inspection period, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to focus on verifying whether smoking occurs within non-smoking areas, as well as checking the installation locations of cigarette vending machines and whether adult authentication devices are attached.

According to the National Health Promotion Act, the use of any tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes containing synthetic nicotine, is prohibited in non-smoking areas. Violators may be fined up to 100,000 won. Additionally, cigarette vending machines may only be installed in areas where persons under the age of 19 are not permitted, inside retail stores, or in designated smoking rooms, and they must be equipped with adult authentication devices. Violations are subject to fines of up to 5 million won or up to 3 million won, respectively.

Kim Hansook, Director-General of Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Defining synthetic nicotine products as tobacco is an important step in protecting public health and gradually strengthening domestic tobacco regulations in line with international standards," and urged, "Please fully understand and implement the new requirements so that relevant regulations can be quickly established on the ground."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.