Korean Convenience Store Owners Association: "Ministry of Health and Welfare, Now Is Not the Time to Regulate Tobacco Advertisements"

Cigarettes displayed at a convenience store. (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The Korea Convenience Store Owners Association has requested a reconsideration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's policy on tobacco advertising restrictions, stating that "about 30,000 petitions have been submitted to the Ministry."

On the 16th, the Convenience Store Owners Association stated in a press release, "Tobacco retailers are small-scale self-employed business owners," and appealed, "Compared to 2017, the minimum wage in 2020 increased by 33%, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 6 million self-employed people in Korea are facing even more difficult livelihoods."

They continued, "There is a right 'time' for everything," emphasizing, "While the industry agrees that tobacco advertising will gradually be reduced and eventually disappear in the future, considering the current economic situation, we believe now is not the right time."

Last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare sent warning notices through local governments to tobacco retail stores such as convenience stores, stating, "All tobacco advertisements inside business premises must not be visible from outside," and announced that from May 1, violations will be actively monitored and enforced.

According to the National Health Promotion Act (Article 9-4, Paragraph 1, Item 1) and the Tobacco Business Act (Article 25, Paragraph 2, and Enforcement Decree Article 9, Paragraph 1, Item 1), tobacco advertisements at retail stores can only be displayed inside the store through signs, stickers, posters, etc., and must not be visible from outside. Violations of the current law may result in imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million KRW, or suspension of business for up to one year.

In this regard, the Convenience Store Owners Association argued, "There are issues with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's administrative measures for smoking cessation," stating, "Until the operation of 160,000 tobacco retail businesses, no guidelines on the appropriate installation methods for tobacco advertisements inside stores have been provided by the Ministry."

They added, "The enforcement standards are ambiguous and unreasonable," and explained, "If enforcement proceeds according to the current standards, local government inspectors will look inside stores from a distance of 1 to 2 meters to check whether internal advertisements are visible."

Furthermore, they explained, "Advertising is an intentional act by the advertiser, and tobacco advertisements inside stores are targeted at customers visiting the store," adding, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare's 'Standards for Judging Illegal Advertisements Inside Tobacco Retail Stores' interprets that if tobacco advertisements are visible from outside at a distance of 1 to 2 meters from the boundary of each store side, regardless of 'intent,' they become subject to guidance and enforcement, which is expected to cause confusion."

Accordingly, the Convenience Store Owners Association demanded ▲ an extension of the grace period and proactive promotion before tobacco retailers acquire their licenses ▲ reconsideration for reasonable enforcement standards ▲ reconsideration of new measures for effective advertisement suppression ▲ application starting from newly designated tobacco retail businesses rather than retroactive application.

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