Tobacco smoking is popular in North Korea and culturally acceptable among men, but not for women. , some 45% of men are reported to smoke daily, whilst in contrast only 2.5% of women smoke daily, with most of these being older women from rural areas. Smoking is a leading cause of death in North Korea, and mortality figures indicate that 34% of men and 22% of women die due to smoking-related causes, the highest mortality figures in the world. There are tobacco control programs in North Korea, and although smoking was not prohibited in all public spaces, the smoking rates have declined since their peak in the 2000s.
However, according to the KCNA, the state news agency of North Korea, the Supreme People's Assembly has introduced smoking bans in some public places to provide citizens with "hygienic living environments".
All three leaders of North Korea — Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un — have been smokers and the country has struggled to balance their public image with its anti-smoking efforts. In general, North Koreans tend to prefer strong tobacco and different classes of quality range from homegrown to sought-after foreign brands that are considered status symbols. As a percentage of the available arable land compared to consumption, the tobacco crop is over-represented in North Korean agriculture.
Consumption
Over 4,569,000 adults and 167,000 children in North Korea are believed to consume tobacco daily. It is estimated by the World Lung Foundation and American Cancer Society's The Tobacco Atlas (2014 data) that 45% of men, 2.5% of women, nearly 16% of boys and <1% of girls (aged <15) are daily smokers, with the average smoker (data is likely skewed towards males due to the higher prevalence of smoking in this group) smoking an average of 609 cigarettes per person per year. World Health Organization (WHO) data is roughly comparable, with 44% of men classified as smokers (only 33% are classed as "daily smokers"), whilst North Korean anti-smoking authorities put the figure even higher, saying that some 54% of men are smokers.
Overall, the average smoker consumes 12.4 cigarettes per day, with this figure rising slightly to 15 per day when just male smokers are considered. The average smoker starts smoking at the age of 23 and the percentage of the population that smokes increases with age until the 55–64 age group, after which it declines. On average, people who live in urban areas tend to smoke more cigarettes per day than rural farmers.
Data indicate that the prevalence of smoking in North Korea is on par with South Korea, although South Korean men pick up the habit earlier and smoke more cigarettes per day. The high rate of smoking in South Korea is possibly due to it being a capitalist society, where marketing is prevalent and consumption is uncontrolled.
However, much of the current information regarding the smoking habits of North Koreans is obtained by studying North Korean defectors who now live in South Korea and may not be totally representative of the true picture. One study of defectors found that smoking is even more common than anticipated, but nicotine dependence was not as severe as predicted. Defectors are reported as often being very interested in quitting smoking.
History
Tobacco first arrived in Korea in the early-1600s from Japan and until around 1880, both men and women smoked. Today, North Koreans consider smoking to be a normal activity for men, but female smoking has become a social taboo.
All of North Korea's three leaders—Kim Jong Un, his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung; have been smokers. Kim Jong Il has called smokers one of the "three main fools of the 21st century", along with people who do not understand music or computers. The current leader Kim Jong Un is often seen smoking in public, including in university classrooms, subway carriages, and in the presence of his pregnant wife Ri Sol-ju, facts that "might make the life of the North Korean health educators more complicated." While discussing any negative aspects of the leaders has normally been rare, some North Koreans have recently raised the issue of the apparent contradiction between anti-smoking measures and Kim's public image with foreigners.
Culture
Women and smoking
Female smoking is a taboo in North Korea and is considered even more disgraceful than heavy drinking. Women are said to "react with shock if you joke that maybe they secretly smoke in bathrooms". Smoking by older women, above the age of 45 to 50, is more tolerated, particularly in rural areas. In comparison, for men smoking is considered such an important social activity that men who do not smoke can become socially isolated at workplaces.