Stub it out, Kim tells Koreans
Kim Jong-Il could tell his countrymen to drop trou and the next thing you know you'd be looking at millions of slavering, unthinking drones with their pants around their ankles. It's a difficult concept for us arrogant Westerners to accept, but in a country steeped in obedience and compliance, this is no big deal.
Now that the Supreme Leader has given up the deadly tobacco habit, now his unquestioning countrymen will be expected to follow suit. Expects LOTS of crabby North Koreans looking for something to stuff into their mouths. Of course, with the rampant food shortages, it's not as if they have to worry about gaining weight.
North Korea has launched a nationwide anti-smoking campaign after its leader Kim Jong-il reportedly quit the habit and called on his people to follow suit.
Reports in the South Korean media said Kim recently singled out smokers as one of the "three main fools of the 21st century", along with those who are ignorant about computers and music.
North Korean television has carried slogans and programmes telling people how harmful cigarette smoking can be to their health.
"Let's quit smoking and contribute in good health to the building of a powerful nation," Choe Ong-ju, the North's chief public hygiene inspector, urged viewers.
South Korean TV quoted experts on the North as saying that although there are no accurate statistics, an estimated 40 per cent of the North's 22 million people smoke cigarettes, one of the highest rates in the world.
That crash you just heard was the black market for cigarettes in North Korea bottoming out. Given that your average North Korean isn't known for questioning authority or the wisdom of the Supreme Leader, no doubt there will be much less hacking and coughing in North Korea before long.
Being an oppressive dictator DOES have it's advantages, no??
