South Korea want to increase the foilpaper.com/' target='_blank'>tobacco price to lower the smoking rate.

The foilpaper.com/' target='_blank'>tobacco tax increase, if it materialises, would also be a part of the government’s plans to raise more taxes to cover welfare costs, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister nominee Choi Kyung-hwan. 

“We may need to increase taxation on foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes for the sake of public health,” he said in a statement submitted ahead of his confirmation hearing Tuesday. 

His remarks come as the Health Ministry is actively calling for an increase to the foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarette tax, which has gone unchanged for nearly a decade. 

Until Choi appeared on the scene, the Finance Ministry has been opposed to the foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarette tax, saying it could stoke inflation. 

Hyun Oh-seok, the outgoing finance minister, said earlier that raising foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarette prices could lead to inflation in consumer prices, and increase the tax burden on those with smaller incomes.

The last time South Korea had revised its foilpaper.com/' target='_blank'>tobacco tax was in 2004. Korea is now one of the cheapest places to buy foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes in the world.

A pack of foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes costs about $2.50, the lowest among 34 OECD economies, according to a recent study by the World Health Organisation.

Norway has the highest price of $14.40 per pack, followed by Ireland and New Zealand with $11.90 and $11.60 respectively, the report said.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare blames the cheap foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes for the country’s high smoking rate ― nearly 4 out of 10 Korean men aged 15 or older foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>smoke every day, which, which is the second-highest rate among OECD members, after Greece. 

According to a recent WHO study, an increase in foilpaper.com/' target='_blank'>tobacco prices by 50 percent would help to avoid 4 million deaths and get 3 million to quit smoking worldwide.

Citing a strong recommendation from the WHO, the Health Ministry announced recently that it would push to raise the value-added tax on foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes by up to 50 percent.

The ministry said it would pass a revised bill by early next year following related negotiations with the Finance Ministry.

Experts say higher foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes taxes would also help the government raise tax revenues and reduce its fiscal deficit.

Rep. Kim Jae-won of the ruling Saenuri Party, who submitted a revision bill in 2013 calling for retail foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarette price hikes, said that if the average foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarette price increased to 4,500 won from 2,500 won, it would bring in more than 3 trillion won ($2.9 billion) in extra tax revenue.

But some are concerned about whether the tax hike could effectively discourage foilpaper.com/' target='_blank'>tobacco use and prevent young people from becoming addicted to foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarettes. 

“Price increases can be an effective tool in the short term, but they alone can’t help people quit smoking,” said an official from the Korea Health Promotion Foundation. 

In addition to a price increase, the government should introduce strict antismoking policies, such as requiring foilpaper.com/' target='_blank'>tobacco producers to put graphic and visual warnings on foilpaper.com' target='_blank'>cigarette packages, as well as putting more anti-smoking advertisements on TV, she added.