Jeonnam Assembly Member Jok Hyun Cho's Amendment on Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Passes Plenary Session

Legal Basis Established for Preventive Education Including Harmful Products Such as E-Cigarettes

The Jeonnam Provincial Assembly announced on May 15 that it had passed a partial amendment to the "Ordinance on Smoking Prevention and Smoking Cessation Support by the Jeonnam Office of Education," which was proposed by Assembly Member Jok Hyun Cho (Democratic Party of Korea, Mokpo 2) during the 390th extraordinary session held on May 9.

Jok Hyun Cho, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member

This amendment aims to strengthen the institutional foundation for including information about youth-harmful products in smoking prevention education, reflecting the recent increase in the use of various inhalable tobacco products such as e-cigarettes among adolescents.

In his explanation of the proposed ordinance, Assembly Member Cho stated, "E-cigarettes are classified as youth-harmful products, but awareness of their dangers among adolescents remains low," and added, "We have established institutional measures to help students properly recognize the risks of smoking."

The amendment specifically clarifies that the ordinance applies to "students" and introduces a provision allowing smoking prevention education to include information about youth-harmful products as defined by the Youth Protection Act.

The Jeonnam Office of Education plans to use this amendment as an opportunity to further strengthen smoking prevention education in schools and to continue various policy efforts to protect students' right to health.