N. Korea launches anti-smoking campaign

The North Korean government has started an anti-smoking campaign.

The North¡¯s Central Broadcasting Agency reported Wednesday that an Anti-smoking Week had kicked off in Pyongyang on Tuesday. Officials from the World Health Organization in North Korea were present, as well.

The broadcast also announced that the campaign would take place in Sariwon, Pyungsung, Nampo and other areas across the nation.

¡°The number of people who have quit or reduced smoking has increased with the anti-smoking campaign,¡± Kim Soo-Hak, the North Korean Minister of Public Health, said in the kickoff ceremony.

Sources say that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is promoting the campaign to North Koreans, known for heavy smokers in the populace.

Chairman Kim is known as a heavy smoker himself, with a penchant for Dunhills. But during his visit to China in May, he acknowledged that he had given up smoking altogether and that he drinks only a little bit of wine.

Because of Chairman Kim¡¯s change of habit, the North Korean media have been focusing on the adverse effects of smoking.