Seoul, Nov 5 (IANS): At a rare meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea adopted an anti-smoking law, state media reported on Thursday.

In its report, the state run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the Tobacco-Prohibition Law and Revising and Supplementing the Law on Enterprises was adopted during the meeting held on Wednesday.

According to the KCNA report, the lgislation "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 as required by the state tobacco-prohibition policy", Yonhap News Agency reported.

Under the law, violators will be penalised.

The tobacco prohibition law draws attention to whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be seen smoking on state media from now on.

State media outlets have often carried photos of Kim smoking in public, including during field inspections.