The research, conducted by the Korea Association on Smoking or Health at the request of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, surveyed 800 smokers between the ages of 20 and 69 nationwide.
It found that 30 percent of liquid e-cigarette users reported reaching for their devices within five minutes of waking, compared with 18.5 percent of traditional cigarette smokers. Among heated tobacco users, 26 percent said they did the same. Public health experts regard immediate morning use as a key marker of addiction severity.
The findings arrive as South Korea’s health ministry has intensified calls for tighter regulation of e-cigarettes, particularly liquid nicotine products.
Jeong Eun-kyeong, the health minister, has argued that “synthetic nicotine liquid e-cigarettes are equally harmful to health as cigarettes and require the same regulations.”
She has pledged to support legislation that would expand the legal definition of tobacco from “tobacco leaves” to “tobacco and nicotine,” effectively bringing e-cigarettes under the same regulatory framework as combustible cigarettes.
The study also underscored differences in consumption patterns. Nearly 51 percent of heated tobacco users said they consumed the equivalent of 11 to 20 cigarettes per day, compared with 46 percent of traditional smokers. That disparity, the report noted, undermines marketing claims that heated products reduce harm.
The Korea Association on Smoking or Health warned that the tools used in smoking cessation clinics are ill-equipped to measure nicotine dependence among new-generation tobacco users, because they do not account for factors such as e-liquid concentration, device voltage and irregular usage patterns. The group called for new standardized assessment indicators tailored to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco.
International research has raised similar concerns.
A 2025 study by Johns Hopkins Medicine found that many e-cigarette users may ingest more nicotine than conventional smokers by using high-strength cartridges or modifying devices to deliver stronger hits.
While vaping exposes users to fewer chemicals than traditional smoking, researchers noted, many of those substances remain unidentified, and some products have been found to contain pesticides.
The Johns Hopkins team also cautioned that e-cigarettes have not proven effective as smoking cessation tools in the United States, where they are often marketed as “healthier” options but remain especially popular among young people.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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