North Korean firm says it has developed anti-smoking candy

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A North Korean drug firm claims to have developed a candy that suppresses the desire to smoke cigarettes and heals smoking-related diseases.
The white, round candy removes nicotine from the body, "lifts the love of cigarettes without adverse effects, improves the immunity and heals the diseases caused by cigarettes," Korea Pugang Pharmaceutic Co., Ltd. said on its English-language website.

The firm said the candy is made from "rare medicinal herbs" collected from the mountains of northern North Korea in accordance with a therapy pioneered by an ancient Korean herb doctor.

For years, North Korea has been staging an anti-smoking campaign, with leader Kim Jong Il calling smokers one of the "three main fools of the 21st century," along with people ignorant of music and computers.

Experts in South Korea estimate more than 40 per cent of North Korea's 22 million people light up regularly, compared with about 33 per cent in the South. Considering it's rare for North Korean women to smoke, the smoking rate among male adults is believed to be much higher.

According to the website, the company won a patent for the anti-smoking candy in February this year.

The order form available at the website is written in both English and Korean but doesn't give a price.

The Pyongyang-based company asks those who want to buy the product to contact its headquarters and its branch offices around the world, from China and Japan to Indonesia, Vietnam and Cuba and Zimbabwe.

Korea Pugang Pharmaceutic Co., Ltd: http://www.pugangpharma.com/