South Korea warns of "grave threat" from liquid e-cigarettes

Record ID: 1438242

  • Title: South Korea warns of "grave threat" from liquid e-cigarettes
  • Date: 23rd October 2019
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (OCTOBER 23, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SOUTH KOREA'S HEALTH MINISTER, PARK NEUNG-HOO, WALKING INTO NEWS BRIEFING ROOM JOURNALIST SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREA'S HEALTH MINISTER, PARK NEUNG-HOO, SAYING: "The current situation is considered as a grave threat to public health, as suspected cases of lung damage have been reported domestically, following foreign cases of lung damage and death." NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREA'S HEALTH MINISTER, PARK NEUNG-HOO, SAYING: "First of all, I strongly advise the public to stop using liquid e-cigarettes." JOURNALISTS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREA'S HEALTH MINISTER, PARK NEUNG-HOO, SAYING: "We will complete an analysis of harmful substances in liquid e-cigarettes by November and prepare the scientific basis for recalling and banning sales of liquid e-cigarettes by quickly conducting human risk assessments, so we can announce the results within the first half of next year." PARK LEAVING PEOPLE VAPING AND SMOKING AT SMOKING AREA MAN HOLDING E-CIGARETTE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VAPING EXTERIOR OF U.S. E-CIGARETTE MAKER "JUUL" STORE SIGN READING: "JUUL" VARIOUS OF E-CIGARETTES ON DISPLAY
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2019 04:18
  • Keywords: South Korea vaping e-cigarettes Juul health ministry tobacco
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B2BFUPZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Korea's health minister on Wednesday (October 23) "strongly advised" the public to stop using liquid e-cigarettes as growing health concerns fuelled a global backlash against vaping.
    Health minister Park Neung-hoo said in a news briefing that "the current situation is considered as a grave threat to public health" while noting that there had been suspected cases of "lung damage" reported in South Korea. He added that the government would expedite its own studies to determine if there was a scientific basis to ban sales of liquid e-cigarettes.
    Countries around the world have been pulling electronic cigarette products from markets and restricting advertising as vaping faces increased scrutiny. U.S. health officials have so far reported 33 deaths and 1,479 confirmed and probable cases from a mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping.
    Following South Korea's decision, the Korean office of U.S. e-cigarette maker Juul Labs said in a statement their products had no harmful substances. Juul began sales in South Korea in May.
    (Production: Daewoung Kim, Hyunyoung Yi)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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