Calls for a cigarette price increase have resurfaced after a medical expert proposed nearly doubling the price of a pack from 4,500 won to 8,500 won ($3.40 to $6.40) to curb smoking. The price has remained at 4,500 won since 2015. Park Eun-cheol, a vice president of the National Academy of Medicine of Korea, made the proposal Tuesday at a forum co-hosted by the academy and the Korean Association of Medical Journalists. He argued that cigarettes have become more affordable as the minimum wage and