As part of the South Korean government's latest move to curb smoking,... a new set of warnings have been introduced on cigarette packs.
The new packs will hit the shelves in January.
Kim Hyo-sun tells us more.
South Korea is introducing new, tougher graphic warning images on cigarette packs to send an even stronger message to smokers.
The new images include people suffering from lung and oral cancer as well as tooth discoloration.
The move is in line with the government's plan to introduce new graphic warnings every two years,... in order to raise public awareness of the side effects of smoking.
The health ministry says eleven new graphic images were introduced this time,... including the one for electronic cigarettes,... which will carry an image warning against the risk of cancer.
The ministry is also considering enlarging the graphic warnings from the current size to cover more than 30 percent of the front of cigarette packs.
Starting in 2016,... tobacco companies were required to put pictorial warnings on cigarette packs sold in South Korea as part of the government's anti-smoking campaign.
According to government data,... the smoking rate for South Koreans over the age of 19 dropped by one-point-six percentage point to stand at 22-point-three percent last year,... the lowest since related records began in 1998.
The number of cigarette packs sold also dropped to three-point-five-two billion last year from three-point-six-six billion in 2016.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.