Larger warnings coming

South Korea’s health ministry has announced that the graphic warnings on cigarette packs will be enlarged starting in 2020, reports Yonhap News.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it plans to adopt a revised law that mandates expanding the warning images from the current 50 percent of the package’s exterior to 75 percent. Currently, the size of the warning photos must cover more than 30 percent of both sides of cigarette packages with warning text making up an additional 20 percent.

The revision—which mandates 55 percent of the warning photos and another 20 percent with warning text—comes amid growing calls to send a stronger message discouraging smoking.

Currently, 105 countries have adopted pictorial warnings, with 43 of them mandating more than 65 percent of tobacco packages to be covered with disturbing pictures that depict the consequences of smoking.