Suit seeks Korean cigarette ingredients

The Korean Stop Smoking Movement Association, in response to the decision by the Korea Ginseng and Tobacco Research Center not to disclose the ingredients of Korean cigarettes, filed a lawsuit with the Daejeon district court Tuesday against the KGTRC, seeking full disclosure of the exact contents of the cigarettes made in Korea.

"The institute has ignored two of our requests seeking the disclosure of the ingredients of Korean-made cigarettes," the spokesperson for the association said at the courthouse. "Their decision for non-disclosure is much like ignoring the fact that the cigarette smoking is addictive and harmful."

The KGTRC is the only research institute in Korea with the means to analyze the ingredients of Korean cigarettes.

The association hopes to obtain information in various areas including the analysis of the cigarettes¡¯ addiction level and content such as tar and nicotine; analysis of the smoke; analysis and progress reports of their current projects for new products; nicotine level and the explanation of techniques used to control nicotine level; as well as the research material pertaining to the studies done for taste, smell and promotion of nicotine to the general public.

Should these research results and analysis become public, it is expected to have great a effect on the current court cases for damages from long-term smoking and also to rock the nation through the revelation of the cigarette companies knowingly ignoring the cancer-producing chemicals in the cigarettes made in Korea.

Jee Myung-Hun mhjee@donga.com