South Korea's tobacco control history is about to reach another meaningful milestone. Under the Act on the Management of Harmful Substances in Tobacco, test results for harmful ingredients in 465 tobacco products sold domestically will be disclosed for the first time. Until now, the only harmful-substance information consumers could find on cigarette packs was, in effect, nicotine and tar figures — and even those came from the tobacco companies themselves. The government will now review test results and release data on 44 components found in the emissions of conventional cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and 20 components in the liquid of e-cigarettes. It is a clear step forward that the government is directly managing and disclosing information that was previously difficult to obtain or had to be taken on the industry's word.
The information made public — whether harmful substances were detected and in what quantities — will vary by product. A few points of caution are warranted when interpreting these results. First, a lower detected level of a harmful ingredient does not mean a product is less harmful. The health damage caused by smoking results from complex, long-term exposure to a wide range of harmful substances. Tobacco smoke is known to contain more than 7,000 chemical compounds. The ingredients analyzed in this round are no more than a tiny fraction of those. Judging a tobacco product's risk by the figures for specific components alone is like looking at the tip of an iceberg and drawing conclusions about the whole.
Simple comparisons across product types should also be approached with caution. For conventional cigarettes and heated tobacco products, emissions were measured; for e-cigarettes, the liquid itself — not the emissions — was tested. Because the subjects and units of measurement differ, it would be wrong to line up the figures side by side and rank which product is less harmful.
A common misconception about tar also needs to be corrected. Tar is not the name of a specific toxic substance; it is a measurement term for the particulate matter in tobacco smoke after nicotine and water are removed. Differences between the new test results and the figures already printed on cigarette packs may reflect variations in measurement methods, such as whether filter ventilation holes were blocked. The belief that "low-tar cigarettes are safer" is one of the most persistent misconceptions that has long confused smokers. This is precisely why WHO recommends banning the display of tar and nicotine figures on cigarette packs. The disclosure should prompt South Korea to reconsider how such figures are presented on packaging.
Will smokers actually quit once harmful-ingredient data is made public? Optimism is hard to justify. Disclosure is an important starting point for guaranteeing the public's right to information, but it is not in itself a policy that drives cessation. Some smokers may switch to a product they perceive as less harmful rather than quitting, or use multiple tobacco products simultaneously. If the disclosure ends up nudging smokers toward certain products, the outcome will run counter to the policy's original intent. The government must therefore closely track and evaluate how smokers' cessation attempts and product-use patterns change after the disclosure, and watch for any new misconceptions that may emerge.
Above all, disclosing harmful ingredients cannot stand alone. Publishing ingredient figures will not, by itself, lower smoking rates. Evidence-based tobacco control policies must advance alongside it. The tobacco tax, frozen in effect for more than a decade since 2015, should be raised to a level that encourages cessation while accounting for inflation and income levels. Tobacco marketing — including the display and advertising of cigarettes in convenience stores — must be tightly regulated, and flavored tobacco products that appeal to young people should be phased out. Cessation support services that have proven ineffective should be boldly restructured, and a more effective support system should be built so that smokers can access help easily and actually quit. These policies have long been recognized as necessary but have repeatedly been delayed. Now that a new door has opened with the ingredient disclosure, it is time to restart the stalled tobacco control agenda.
The government's communication approach must also change. Repeating the blanket message that "all tobacco is harmful" is not enough. While upholding that principle, the government needs nuanced, strategic communication that accurately explains the differences in test results and measurement methods across products, and corrects the mistaken assumptions smokers may form about individual products.
The hope is that this first-ever disclosure of harmful ingredients does not remain merely a historical record, but becomes the starting point that sets long-stalled tobacco control policy back in motion. What smokers need is not a cigarette that appears less harmful — it is the policies and environment that help them break free from tobacco entirely.
silverpaper@heraldcorp.com
