This still image taken from a KCNA TV report and provided by Yonhap News shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a visit to the eastern coastal city of Sinpo in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, in October.
North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly held a rare meeting on Wednesday to adopt an anti-smoking law.
The state's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday that the rubber-stamp parliament adopted the Tobacco-Prohibition Law during a session led by Choe Ryong-hae, the North's No. 2 leader and president of the Presidium of the SPA.
The tobacco-prohibition law "stipulates the rules which all the institutions, organizations and citizens must follow in protecting the lives and health of the people and providing more cultured and hygienic living environments by tightening the legal and social controls on the production and sale of cigarettes and on smoking," according to the KCNA.
It also reportedly specifies where smoking is forbidden, such as places for political and ideological education, public spaces including theaters and cinemas, institutions for child care and education, medical and public health facilities, as well as public transport.
The law indicates penalties for violating the smoking rules.
This latest move raises questions about whether leader Kim Jong-un, known to be a heavy smoker, is trying to kick the habit.
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