As part of the South Korean government's latest move to curb smoking,... a new set of warnings have been introduced on cigarette packs. <br />The new packs will hit the shelves in January. <br />Kim Hyo-sun tells us more. <br />South Korea is introducing new, tougher graphic warning images on cigarette packs to send an even stronger message to smokers. <br />The new images include people suffering from lung and oral cancer as well as tooth discoloration.<br />The move is in line with the government's plan to introduce new graphic warnings every two years,... in order to raise public awareness of the side effects of smoking. <br />The health ministry says eleven new graphic images were introduced this time,... including the one for electronic cigarettes,... which will carry an image warning against the risk of cancer. <br />The ministry is also considering enlarging the graphic warnings from the current size to cover more than 30 percent of the front of cigarette packs.<br />Starting in 2016,... tobacco companies were required to put pictorial warnings on cigarette packs sold in South Korea as part of the government's anti-smoking campaign. <br />According to government data,... the smoking rate for South Koreans over the age of 19 dropped by one-point-six percentage point to stand at 22-point-three percent last year,... the lowest since related records began in 1998. <br />The number of cigarette packs sold also dropped to three-point-five-two billion last year from three-point-six-six billion in 2016. <br />Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News. <br />
