| knt |
Posted
on 13-Jul-03 05:38 PM
The link is:
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=744882003
And here's the article:
A JAPANESE sushi chef who served the reclusive North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, has written a book exposing his former employers violent temper, desire to develop nuclear weapons, and the tortuous, four-day long banquets at which the premier would order his "entertainment squad" to dance naked.
Writing as Kenji Fujimoto, an alias he has adopted because he fears North Korean agents are trying to track him down, his book, Chef for Kim Jong Il, is selling well in a country that is tracking every movement of the man who runs the secretive communist regime.
Mr Fujimotos curious story began in 1982, when he received an invitation to work in a restaurant in Pyongyang. It was there that he came to the attention of Mr Kim.
"In 1982, I was invited to the weekend home of Kim Jong Il in Wang Sang," Mr Fujimoto, 56, told the Sankei newspaper. "I was asked to make sushi for about 20 people who seemed to be executives of the North Korean Labour Party.
"While I made tuna fish sushi, a man spoke to me. After the banquet, I was told that the man was Kim Jong Il. After that, I was often invited to the number eight banquet hall and made sushi for Kim Jong Il and his guests."
The imposing banquet hall stands in the centre of Pyongyang and the public is kept away by armed guards. Mr Fujimoto said Mr Kims parties generally started at midnight and went on until daylight.
He said: "As far as I knew, the longest banquet lasted for four days. None of the executives invited to the long banquets were allowed to sleep until Kim Jong Il went to bed. It was torture for them.
"In the basement of Kim's official residence, there were almost 10,000 bottles of wine. I visited the cellars many times. Since 1994, Kim Jong Il has indulged in collecting French wines. Every day, he opened three bottles before selecting the one he would drink that day." Mr Kims favourite whisky is Johnnie Walker.
The banquets were accompanied by entertainment, Mr Fujimoto added. "There was also a stage where female members of the Group for Pleasure danced," he said. "The stage was equipped with spotlights and huge speakers. I saw their performances.
"Watching their performances, Kim often made observations. He would often say, The dance is cute, or the music is wonderful. The person who was in charge of the entertainment took notes of Mr Kims remarks to improve future shows."
In 1989, Mr Fujimoto married one of the Group for Pleasure dancers, with the Dear Leader playing a prominent, but bizarre, part in his nuptials.
"My wedding was held on the second floor of the number eight banquet hall. Many executives from the North Korean Labour Party came to the wedding and told me to drink a lot. I drank one and half bottles of cognac.
"The next morning, Kim Jong Il came to me and asked me whether I had pubic hair," Mr Fujimoto continued. "I answered, Yes but he said to me, Lets go to the bathroom to check. We went to the bathroom and checked, but it was all gone.
"When I was intoxicated with cognac, someone seemed to have removed it. Kim Jong Il said, Thats how we celebrate weddings and smiled."
"At one banquet party held in another city, Mr Kim suddenly told the dancers to take off their clothes. They hesitated, but they had no power to resist. They all took off their clothes and danced. Then, he ordered his men, including me, to dance with them. He said we could dance with them, but if we touched them we would be taken as thieves."
Mr Fujimoto said he believed that Mr Kim thought that touching the women would not be "right".
"As far as I know, Kim Jong Il had never forced the dancers to have sex with his executives," he said. "He hated prostitution, but it was different for dancers invited from foreign countries."
Mr Kims father, Kim Il Sung, died in July 1994 and he inherited his title and role in North Korea.
"Kim Jong Il was under a lot of stress," Mr Fujimoto said. "He tended to isolate himself. I heard that he kept a pistol in his room to commit suicide. When his wife found it, she was upset and scolded him. Having just lost his father, he was under a great deal of pressure, but I did not think he was such a weak person to commit suicide." Mr Fujimoto gradually became closer to the North Korean leader, with Mr Kim inviting him to accompany him on his travels. Mr Fujimoto went on trips all over the country, and went waterskiing, horse riding and shooting with the Dear Leader, suggesting that he was not simply a chef but more of a playmate.
Mr Kim does, however, have a temper, Mr Fujimoto said. On one occasion, as Mr Fujimoto prepared sushi, Mr Kim threw a solid steel napkin box at Chang Sung Taek, one of the regimes key leaders and also Mr Kims brother-in-law and closest confidant. Mr Fujimoto even heard Mr Kim once ask a military official, "Did you shoot him?"
Nuclear weapons, however, were a source of friction between the two men.
"In 1989, Kim asked me, What do you think of our country possessing nuclear weapons? I replied, My country is the only nation in the world that was bombed by nuclear weapons. I oppose any nuclear weapons that your country will have under any circumstances. He shouted at me, Without nuclear weapons, we will be attacked."
Mr Fujimoto said that in December 1995 a top government official reported to Mr Kim that many people working at the countrys nuclear facilities were being taken ill, but he did not respond. At another banquet a drunk official told Mr Fujimoto. "We will protect you when war breaks out. The basement is ready, and the temperature is set at 22C."
After returning to Japan in 1996 to buy high-quality foodstuffs for Mr Kim, Mr Fujimoto was detained by Japanese immigration authorities. He was not able to return to North Korea for another two years and when he did return learned that Mr Kim had ordered his agents to kill him as a suspected spy.
Mr Fujimoto decided to flee before he could be accused of being an agent. In April 2001, he made the excuse that he needed to buy sea urchins in Japan but he never returned.
"I could never sympathise with them or understand their philosophy, no matter how hard I studied," he said.
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