Smoking rate down, but high
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The smoking rate among South Korean men aged 19 and older has fallen in recent years, but the rate remains high, according to a story in The Korea Herald.
Citing data from Statistics Korea, the Herald reported that the smoking rate among this group was 39.1 percent in 2016, down from 43.3 percent in 2014. There was no data on the smoking rate in 2015.
Separate data compiled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development put the smoking rate of South Korean men aged 15 and older at 31 percent in 2015, the highest among the 15 OECD countries surveyed.
Japan came in second with 30 percent, followed by Italy with 25 percent.
In 2015, South Korea increased the price of cigarettes by 80 percent, from 2,500 won ($2.25) per pack to 4,500 won.
And the South Korean government in 2016 brought in a requirement that tobacco companies included graphic warnings on the upper part of cigarette packs.
