North Korea's Ex-Smoker Kim Lights Up on State TV

02/26/2009

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, widely believed to have suffered a stroke in August, was shown lighting up on state TV on Wednesday during a tour of a cigarette factory even though he said he gave up smoking years ago. There was no indication whether he took a few puffs on a cigarette as a one-off event to show his care in inspecting a key national industry or if he had returned to smoking. Kim, 67, was shown in a series of still pictures with a lit cigarette and smoke coming out of his mouth while he was talking to the factory manager. "He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the interior and the exterior of the factory are spruced up in a hygienic and cultured manner and quality cigarettes are mass produced thanks to the successful maintenance of its equipment and technical control," the North's KCNA news agency said of Kim's on-the-spot guidance at the cigarette factory. Kim, thought to be plagued by chronic illness, is believed to have recovered from the stroke. Intelligence sources said he cut back several years ago on what was a hard-partying lifestyle. Kim was quoted as saying as early as 1999 that smoking is harmful and urged people to quit. Kim told a bemused Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing in 2000: "In the past, I used to smoke and drink a lot. Now I've quit smoking and I only drink a little wine." At around the time Kim said he had given up cigarettes, the North's propaganda machine rolled out anti-smoking campaigns. Rules are still relaxed about public smoking in North Korea, which has a high rate of smoking by men. The North produces several cigarette brands including "Red Star" and "Phungsan", named after a local dog breed whose picture graces a box with the phrase "Korean Pride" written in English. Over the past several years, North Korea has marked the world no-tobacco day with warnings about the dangers of smoking. In 2005, it said it came up with a medicinal remedy to fight withdrawal that KCNA said also helped cure "hazy feeling, general prostration and indigestion". Enditem