Has N. Korean leader's smoking been butted out?
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Kim Jong-un is smoking a cigarette in an orphanage. /Courtesy of Twitter
By Lee Jin-a
Kim Jong-un, who is known as a heavy smoker, has not been seen publicly with a cigarette in hand since he appeared at the ballistic rocket test on March 15. Some suspect the young leader has quit smoking after the North recently built facilities to promote giving up the habit.
“A non-smoking research facility in Pyongyang will expand its nationwide anti-smoking campaign through its branch facilities located in each region,” the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday.
“The facilities will distribute products that aid people to quit smoking and are approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as nicotine gum and the nicotine pill.”
Rodong Shinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers’ Party, said Monday: “Tobacco is no longer an item of personal preference, refreshment or style. Also, the international society is strongly involved in non-smoking activities.”
The North initiated an anti-smoking campaign after former leader Kim Jong-il enacted the Tobacco Control Law in 2005. But the smoking rate has increased since Kim Jong-un took power.
More than 53 percent of North Korean men smoked in 2012, the highest among 10 Asian countries, according to WHO’s report.