Amid growing global concerns over vaping, North Korean media has also warned the country’s public against the negative impacts of using e-cigarettes.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official paper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said on Friday that long-held views that e-cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes have been completely debunked, citing corroborative research and recent deaths in the U.S. linked with vaping. 

It warned about the impacts of e-cigarettes on young people and said that it has become a stepping stone to habitual smoking for many nonsmokers, including adolescents.