North Korean leader smokes at school
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smoked while visiting a school. /Yonhap
By Lee Jin-a
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has smoked a cigarette while visiting a school, a photo released by the North’s mouthpiece media shows, Sunday.
In images provided by Korean Central Television (KCT), Kim is seen smoking in a gym and in a classroom while touring a middle school in Pyongyang.
The heavy smoker had reportedly stopped smoking in public for 80 days after the government intensified its anti-smoking campaign.
But he resumed smoking earlier last month at the Mangyongdae Children's Camp in Pyongyang.
A North Korea expert said Kim may have resumed smoking in public to inspire nostalgia toward North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, who also smoked.
"But it's difficult to understand why the North Korean media stressed the detrimental effects of smoking and then showed Kim doing exactly that," he said.
In the anti-smoking campaign video that the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) aired on May 24, North Korean women said smokers were “rude” and had “no common sense.”