Seoul  - Doubling the price of a pack of cigarettes could be a good way to discourage South Koreans from smoking, according to a state-funded survey released on Thursday.

In South Korea, where almost 50 per cent of all males are smokers, 77 per cent of the surveyed 3,000 smokers aged above 19 said they will quit if the cigarette price doubles to 5,000 won (5 US dollars).

"A price point that tips the scale against smoking comes only when the price increase is big enough," Jeong Woo-Jin, a professor at Yonsei University who led the state-funded health survey.

Medical journals have estimated that about 47,000 South Koreans die each year from smoking-related diseases like lung cancer or pancreas cancer.

In South Korea, 43.4 per cent of men are surveyed to smoke, down from 79.3 per cent in 1980. The reduced smoking rate has been attributed to a ban on smoking in public places and anti-smoking campaigns. (dpa)