Government to Nearly Double Cigarette Prices Next Year

1. Warm-up

A. What are your thoughts about smoking? A harmless habit? Disgusting? A waste of money? A fun thing to
do?

B.Should the government tax cigarettes more than the regular rate for things like food or drinks?

2. Vocabulary

- Tobacco
- Parliamentary review
- Deceitful
- Hike (price hike)
- OECD = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- 2.8 trillion =

3. Reading time

A. What is the government’s proposal?

B. What reasons do they have for it?

C. Who supports the price hike? Who doesn’t support it? Who else would be happy/unhappy about it?

D. Is Korea’s smoking rate high compared to other countries?

4. Discussion Time

A. Is it ethical to raise taxes on things like cigarettes or alcohol and use the money to fund things like education
or health-care?

B. Will this move actually reduce the smoking rate in Korea as much as Moon Hyung Po says? 2000 won
doesn’t seem like that much money these days.

C. Do you think this price increase unfairly targets low income-earners?

D. Do you think warnings on cigarette packages will have any effect?

E. Should the government be involved in trying to reduce the smoking rate, or not?

F. What about women smoking in Korea? Why is there such a social stigma against it? Is this fair?

5. Essay: In Vancouver, the price of a pack of cigarettes is around $15. Should the price be increased by
raising taxes? Why or why not. Support your answer!

Government to Nearly Double Cigarette Prices Next Year

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/09/113_164376.html

The government announced that it plans to nearly double cigarette prices starting in January as part of
efforts to cut the country's high smoking rate that will also include a ban on tobacco advertisements by large
retailers.

"The government will seek to raise cigarette prices by 2,000 won (US$1.93) per pack while also introducing a
pricing system where cigarette prices will be pegged to other consumer prices," Health and Welfare Minister
Moon Hyung-pyo said.

The plan may undergo changes during parliamentary review as many politicians, including ruling party
lawmakers, have already expressed their opposition against such a large price increase. Shortly after the
government-ruling party consultations, the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy labeled the
price hike a "deceitful move" aimed at filling the revenue shortfall by emptying the pockets of those in the low
income bracket, whose smoking rate is higher than among other income groups.

A 2,000-won hike will mark an 80 percent increase from the current average price of 2,500 won per pack.

In further efforts to bring down the smoking population, the government will require cigarette manufacturers
to print picture-based warnings on tobacco products and prohibit promotions and advertisements of tobacco
by manufacturers and retailers, including convenience stores.

The last price hike for cigarettes was in 2004 when it was raised by 500 won. Moon said the proposed price
hike will significantly reduce the country's smoking rate, noting that the last price hike helped cut the smoking
rate by 15 percent.

"The government will work to lower the smoking rate of adult males to 29 percent by 2020," he said. The
health ministry's data show that the smoking rate for South Korean males is currently around 44 percent,
above the average 25 percent for the 34 member countries of the OECD. The ministry said the proposed
price hike was expected to lead to a 34 percent drop in overall sales of tobacco products, and that the price
hike, coming mostly from a tax increase, will likely generate an additional 2.8 trillion won in tax revenues.