Implementation of MPOWER and Regulatory Gaps Amid Korea’s Evolving Tobacco Control Landscape

The MPOWER framework, developed by the World Health Organization, has been established as a global standard for tobacco control.Although Korea was an early adopter of the MPOWER framework, smoking prevalence has stagnated.This study aimed to analyze Korea's implementation of the MPOWER framework through the document analysis of the WHO Global Tobacco Epidemic Reports (2015-2023), 40 academic publications in Korea (2015-2025), and 22 Korean media reports (2023)(2024)(2025).According to the WHO assessments, Korea has demonstrated a relatively strong implementation in terms of monitoring (M), cessation support (O), and mass media campaigns (W2), whereas progress in smoke-free policies (P), warning labels (W1), advertising bans (E), and taxation (R) remains limited.Nevertheless, the document review suggests that the accelerated speed of the production of novel tobacco products and digital marketing has revealed regulatory gaps across all components.While individual-level interventions remain relatively robust, product-based regulations and preventive strategies are limited by the narrow legal definition of tobacco.To advance tobacco control, it is recommended that the WHO should improve the qualitative dimensions of MPOWER evaluation.At the national level in Korea, expanding the legal definition of tobacco and strengthening public communication strategies are essential to achieve a more effective policy implementation and compliance.Given that the MPOWER framework primarily focuses on demand reduction, complementary supply-side approaches are also necessary.