North Korea's push to use more coal clouds environmental future

Smoke rises from a chimney in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea September 11, 2018. Picture taken September 11, 2018. REUTERS/Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sees coal as a key way to boost the economy, but burning more coal may worsen pollution in a country already choking on some of the world's most toxic air.

With the country staggering under the weight of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme and human rights violations, defectors and analysts say Pyongyang has increased the domestic use of coal, which is blocked for export.