Ex-chef of NK leader discusses 1st visit to P`yang in 11 years

Three women from the family of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on July 22 attended a banquet he hosted for Kenji Fujimoto, the former sushi chef of his late father and predecessor Kim Jong Il who visited the North for the first time in 11 years.

The three women were Kim Jong Un`s wife Ri Sol Ju, younger sister Kim Yo Jong and Kim Ok, the fourth wife of his late father.

Appearing on a show of Japan`s TBS TV for the third consecutive day Friday, Fujimoto gave an account of women around Kim Jong Un, saying, "Comrade General Kim Jong Un has continued to keep a close relationship with Kim Ok since he was young."

After Kim Jong Un`s biological mother Ko Young Hee died, Kim Ok freely frequented the home of Kim Jong Il`s residence, the chef said. On why the pictures he took in Pyongyang do not show Kim Yo Jong, he said he had no chance to shake hands with her.

"I shook hands with Supreme Commander Comrade Kim Jong Un, his wife and then Kim Ok, and was about to shake hands with Kim Yo Jong, but couldn`t because she was behind Umamawari," he said. Umamawari refers to girls who ride horses around Kim Jong Un when he goes horseback riding.

The moderator of the TBS TV show said the fashion of the North Korean leader`s wife is in vogue among female college students in the North. Fujimoto did not mention Ri, however, presumably due to warnings from Pyongyang. Friday¡¯s show was conducted in the form of a commentary given primarily by the moderator.

Another highlight of the show was an interpreter who seemed to be in her late 60s. According to the moderator, Kim Jong Il called her "Sakura" because it was the name of the younger sister of the hero in the Japanese movie "Otokowa Tsuraiyo (The Man in Trouble)."

Fujimoto appeared on the show wearing a pin with portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il attached to his tie, which he wore at the banquet hosted by Kim Jong Un. He showed the pin to the audience by flipping his tie. Goh Yeong-gi, Japan bureau chief of the South Korean online news site Daily NK who appeared on the show as a commentator, said, "The pin Fujimoto received is larger than that owned by Sakura, who`s been considered a member of the Kim Jong Un family for a long time," adding, "This means Kim Jong Un has forgiven Fujimoto and accepted him as a member of his family."

Fujimoto also showed photos he took at his Pyongyang residence with his family, from whom he was separated 11 years ago. He moved to the city in 1989 to serve as Kim Jong Il`s sushi chef and escaped in 2001. The chef remarried a North Korean woman 20 years his junior and had a daughter with her in 1992. She was age 9 when he escaped from North Korea and is now 20.

Fujimoto`s wife and daughter in a photo were seen smiling and clad in bright colored clothing that he brought to them as gifts at an apartment with a wide variety of furniture. "My wife and daughter would live at a two-room apartment with my parents-in-law, but moved to a high-end apartment with five rooms just before I visited Pyongyang," he said, adding, "I`m very grateful to the comrade general for giving them the expensive apartment."

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