Baek Youngjae, Philip Morris CEO, "E-cigarette Harm Regulations Must Be Based on Scientific Evidence"

Baek Young-jae, CEO of Korea Philip Morris, is introducing the new product 'IQOS ILUMA' at a press conference held on the 25th at Lotte Hotel, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] “Government regulations related to the harmfulness of electronic cigarettes should be discussed and decided based on science.”

Baek Youngjae, CEO of Philip Morris Korea, stated at a press conference held on the 25th at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, for the launch of the new product ‘IQOS ILUMA’ that discussions and policies regarding the harmfulness of heated tobacco products should be decided and implemented based on scientific evidence.

Regarding questions about regulations on the domestic electronic cigarette market, CEO Baek responded, “In countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, smoking conventional cigarettes is recognized as harmful to the body, and discussions and policies are made based on scientific evidence to provide better alternatives. Since such policies also help public health, we should have discussions in the same manner.”

He added, “Since IQOS was launched domestically in 2017 and has established itself as an alternative to conventional cigarettes, the message that electronic cigarettes are less harmful for public health should be expanded more based on scientific data than it is now.”

Philip Morris claims that the emission of harmful substances from heated tobacco products is on average 95% less compared to conventional cigarettes. In July 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized marketing IQOS in the U.S. as a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP), citing that reduced exposure to harmful substances from IQOS could help improve public health.

On this day, Philip Morris Korea officially announced the launch of the next-generation heated tobacco device, the IQOS ILUMA series, in the domestic market. The biggest feature of the ILUMA series is the application of a new tobacco heating system. The existing IQOS heated the dedicated sticks through a heating blade, which had the inconvenience of needing to clean the blade and had durability issues. However, the ILUMA series applies a smart induction system that eliminates the blade.

The IQOS ILUMA series will be released on November 10 with two lineups: IQOS ILUMA Prime and IQOS ILUMA. They will be available at all 15 IQOS flagship stores nationwide, some official IQOS retailers, and convenience stores.

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