Unconfirmed reports say Kim Jong-il recently had a heart operation
Jump to full article: BBC Online, 2007-07-24
Intro: The North Korean capital, Pyongyang, has reportedly become the latest city to impose a smoking ban.
However, rather than being for the good of the general public, it is all about the country's leader Kim Jong-il.
The move comes after doctors advised Mr Kim to stop smoking and drinking after a recent heart operation, reports say.
"Kim's home, office and all other places he goes to have been designated as non-smoking areas," a former South Korean lawmaker said.
"A Chinese diplomat who has close relations with the North Koreans told me by telephone that doctors had asked Chairman Kim Jong-il to quit smoking and drinking," Jang Sung-Min, an associate of former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung, told the French news agency AFP.
"Even the highest-ranking officials are going outdoors to smoke," he said.
Jump to full article » |