Liquid-based e-cigarettes are on sale. [Newsis]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Monday expressed its support for a legislative proposal from an opposition lawmaker to mandate anti-smoking warnings on e-cigarette devices.

In a written answer to the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, the ministry said, “In terms of raising awareness of the harms of smoking, it is necessary to display health warnings on e-cigarette devices,” and added it would support the enactment of relevant legal changes.

Currently, a host of bills have been submitted to the parliament seeking to amend the National Health Promotion Act, which regulates tobacco for public health, in order to address loopholes related to e-cigarettes and new types of tobacco products. Among them is one proposed by Rep. Jeon Jin-sook of the main Democratic Party of Korea.

Rep. Jeon’s bill seeks to require new tobacco and nicotine products and devices, as specified by a presidential decree, to display warning images and messages. It also aims to subject them to the same advertising restrictions that apply to traditional cigarette ads, including a ban on the use of images of animals, characters, or cartoon figures in advertisements, to mitigate their appeal to young people.

While the use of electronic cigarettes is rapidly expanding, legal regulations have struggled to keep up, lawmakers noted during October’s parliamentary audit of the Welfare Ministry.

In addition to the lack of advertising restrictions, e-cigarettes are exempt from tobacco consumption taxes and other related levies. Unlike regular cigarettes and heated tobacco products, some e-cigarettes can be sold both online and offline without legal restrictions, including to minors.

According to the 2023 student health survey results released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency in March, the usage rate of e-cigarettes among youth in grades seven to twelve increased from 2.7 percent in 2018 to 3.1 percent in 2023.

A separate report released in July indicated that over 60 percent of students who began smoking with liquid-based e-cigarettes later transitioned to regular cigarettes, underscoring the role e-cigarettes play as a gateway to smoking.