Korean smokers seek relief in e-cigarettes, patches

With the price of cigarettes set to be increased sharply at the beginning of next year, KT&G is making forays into the electronic cigarette market, according to a story in The Korea Economic Daily.

Quoting industry sources on December 23, the Daily said that KT&G had almost completed preparation for a launch on to the electronic cigarette market and was now only fine-tuning the date of release.

One key factor behind KT&G’s decision to enter this market has been the higher-than-expected growth of the domestic electronic cigarette market ahead of the cigarette price hike.

Japan Tobacco International and British American Tobacco have already released their own electronic cigarette brands.

Meanwhile, the Daily reported in a separate story that Handok Pharmaceutical was benefiting from ‘quit smoking fever’ ahead of the cigarette tax and price increase on January 1.

Handok was the biggest beneficiary of the current anti-smoking environment because it was ‘currently claiming as much as 66 percent of the nicotine patch market with its Nicostop brand’.