Cigarette imports into North Korea continue despite pledges from the country’s leadership to crack down on foreign tobacco products, NK News reported.

China exported tobacco products to North Korea worth more than USD 75 million last year, including more than two billion cigarettes and a few thousand tons of tobacco leaves, according to recent trade data published by the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GAC) and analysed by NK News.
In 2014, Kim was said to have called for an import ban on foreign cigarettes which he allegedly described as "unpatriotic", NK News said.
According to the report, smoking cigarettes is common among men in North Korea, and much less so for women in the country. The American Cancer Society estimates that North Koreans smoke 993 cigarettes per person per year — the equivalent of about 49 packs. One source told NK News that a pack of cigarettes starts at about CNY 4 (USD 0.57). At that minimum price per pack, the two billion Chinese cigarettes imported into the North would be worth about CNY 400 million (USD 57 million).