This segment addresses misunderstandings about policies in the media and answers questions about policies in daily life. There has been criticism that including ‘tar’ in the process of disclosing harmful tobacco ingredients does not align with the intent of the law. We will verify the facts, and recently, there has been a significant increase in smishing messages due to the recent personal information leak incident at Coupang.
Recent media reports titled ‘Revealing mixed substances like tar… Controversy over the Tobacco Harm Management Act’ highlighted that including ‘tar’, a mixture of thousands of chemical substances, as a single ingredient in the inspection target does not align with the intent of the law. In response, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated that they would inspect and disclose all major harmful ingredients based on scientific expertise.
The government clarified that the inspection and disclosure targets of the ‘Tobacco Harm Management Act’ are not limited to single ingredients. Many countries, including the European Union, Canada, Japan, and Brazil, regulate tar, a complex ingredient in tobacco, and Korea’s ‘Tobacco Business Act’ also defines tar as a tobacco ingredient and manages its display and content. Regarding the criticism that some of the 44 harmful ingredients do not have official test methods, it was explained that improved test methods for the 44 harmful ingredients were developed and disclosed through years of research, referencing official test methods from the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Standardization, and Canada.
Recently, smishing crimes exploiting the personal information leak incident at Coupang have been increasing. Smishing scams focus on ‘click inducement’ and ‘personal information theft’. Due to the personal information leak, the accuracy of smishing targets has increased, and the probability of damage has risen, making it necessary to be more cautious. To prevent and report smishing, do not click on internet addresses in suspicious messages, verify the facts with the official customer center, and delete suspicious messages immediately. Reports can be made to the police at 112, the Financial Supervisory Service at 1332, or the Korea Internet & Security Agency at 118.