The government is seeking to reclassify electronic cigarettes so that they come under the same regulations as regular cigarettes.

The move is expected before the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control general congress scheduled to take place in Seoul in November. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Tuesday gave advance notice of the revision to the Tobacco Business Act, which would redefine cigarettes as products made entirely or partly of leaf tobacco that is intended to be smoked, sucked, chewed, snuffed or inhaled. Electronic cigarettes, therefore, would be legally acknowledged as cigarettes.

Previously there was no regulation of e-cigarettes. The Ministry of Government Legislation in 2008 suggested the product was a form of cigarette but the lack of legal grounds made it difficult for the authorities to take disciplinary measures against the product makers, the authorities said.

Tobacco substitutes, such as herbal cigarettes, will retain their status as quasi-drugs subject to the Pharmaceutical Management Act. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the law revision would strengthen the government’s regulation against e-cigarette sales in non-smoking areas or to teenagers.

The authorities have been striving to curb the country’s smoking rate in advance of hosting the FCTC meeting slated for Nov. 12-17, which will mainly focus on global cooperation against smoking that is believed to cause the deaths of four million people every year around the globe.

The smoking rate in Korea is among the highest of OECD members, marking 39 percent among adult males and 1.8 percent among adult women as of 2010.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)