A man uses a vape device in Seoul, South Korea, October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Heo Ran
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s top convenience store chain GS25 has stopped selling flavored liquid e-cigarettes, the parent company GS Retail said on Thursday.
The sales suspension came a day after the country’s health minister warned the public to stop using liquid vaping products, citing a number of deaths attributed to e-cigarettes in the United States.
GS25 halted sales of three flavored vape products of U.S. e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, including “tropical” – the equivalent of mango flavor offered in the United States – and one product of a local tobacco company KT&G, the parent company said in a statement.
The convenience store firm plans to consider whether to expand its sales suspension to all liquid e-vaping products, after results of the South Korean government’s investigation into the products are known.
The South Korean office of Juul Labs and KT&G were not immediately available for comment.
Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Editing by Ju-min Park and Muralikumar Anantharaman