A photo released by North Korea’s official media on Sunday showed the country’s leader Kim Jong-un smoking a cigarette while visiting a school, according to a story by Lee Jin-a for the South Korea-based Korea Times.
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.
Kim had reportedly stopped smoking in public after the government intensified its anti-smoking campaign. But he apparently resumed smoking last month at the Mangyongdae Children’s Camp in Pyongyang.
A North Korea expert was quoted as saying that Kim might have resumed smoking in public to inspire nostalgia toward the 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 an 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”.
Another explanation might be that Kim is trying to control his weight, which, according to a story in The Guardian yesterday, has risen by about 90 lb (40 kg) since he became leader four years ago.