REPUBLIC OF KOREA

* In 2000, about 67% of Korean men smoked, while among adult women the figure has nearly doubled, from 3.9% in 1989 to 6.7% in 1997.
* A recent Gallup survey found that by the end of 2002, the number of male smokers will have dropped by a stunning 21% since May 2001.
* Cigarettes were first introduced to the Republic of Korea in the 1930s. In the late 1980s, the country opened its market to foreign tobacco firms. Cigarette consumption rose dramatically alongside increased advertising.
* In a single year after the ban against American tobacco was lifted, smoking among Korean teenagers rose from 18% to 30%; among female teens it rose about five-fold, from 1.6% to 8.7%.
* Foreign cigarettes now control 25% of the market.
* The Republic of Korea is the eighth largest cigarette market in the world, with an annual volume of 100 billion cigarettes, according to industry data.

(Resource: WHO)