Korean Ministry Urges Vape Show Canceled

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has urged events organizer The Fairs to cancel its Korea Vape Show 2023, reports Korea Biomedical Review.

The exhibition is scheduled to take place July 21-23 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

“We sent a letter asking for the event to be canceled because we had concerns from a health promotion perspective,” a MOHW official was quoted by Yonhap News as saying. “We are also concerned that adolescents may visit the show if access to the convention is not properly controlled.”

The ministry also expressed worries about advertised vaping contests that it said would violate indoor smoking restrictions. South Korea allows indoor smoking only in separate, fully enclosed areas.

The MOHW said it plans to inspect the venue on the day of the event and impose penalties if the organizers fail to create a fully enclosed smoking room inside the venue.

The organizers said they had submitted plans to resolve the issues raised by critics and said it would not cancel the convention.

The official also stressed that previous conventions had been held without problems. “During the past three conventions, officials from the local public health center visited the convention and found no wrongdoings,” she said.