Korea Will Mandate Picture Warnings On Cigarette Packs

Switch from text to pictures of afflicted body parts to begin next year.

Photos of body parts afflicted by smoking related diseases will replace the current written warning on cigarette packs from as early as next year.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday that it was seeking to revise the National Health Promotion Law to curb the nation's high incidence of smoking.

Currently cigarette packs have the warning labels on them because tobacco growers and cigarette companies are strongly against the adoption of photos or other graphic warnings.

The photographs will be put on cigarette packs to show the physical damage caused by smoking _ a measure currently used in over 40 countries including the United States, Britain, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.