Book tells of Kim Jong-il’s lavish feasts

TOKYO ― “Chairman Kim Jong-il is normally gentle, but if subordinates misbrief him or commit a mistake, he throws things, even at top-ranking officials,” said Kenji Fujimoto, a former chef for the North Korean leader.
Mr. Fujimoto, 56, has published a book on his experiences in North Korea, which appeared on stands Friday in Japan.
In an interview with the Japanese newspaper Sankei, Mr. Fujimoto said that he went to North Korea in 1982 through a North Korean trading company. As chef to Mr. Kim, chairman of the North Korean National Defense Commission, and general secretary of the North Korean Workers’ Party, he received a hefty monthly salary of 500,000 yen, or 5 million won ($4,200) cooking up expensive cuisine. He fled the North two years ago, returning to Japan via China.
“Even after a food shortage hit the nation in 1994, Chairman Kim’s table was filled with expensive dishes from around the world,” he said. “He enjoyed rich sushi such as toro, made with delicate tuna-belly flesh, and uni, or sea urchin egg sushi.” The former chef recalled an incident where Mr. Kim threw a metal napkin holder at Chang Sung-taek, his brother-in-law and first deputy director of the Workers Party’s Central Party Committee.
“I also witnessed Mr. Kim ask a high-ranking military official, ‘Did you shoot him yet?’” Mr. Fujimoto said in the book.
Published by Fusosha publishing company, Mr. Fujimoto’s book tells of 20 to 30 dishes always on Mr. Kim’s table. But on Korea’s so-called “Dog Day,” the hottest day of summer, Mr. Kim always dined on dog soup, he said.
Mr. Kim’s palate ran toward Chinese food, the book says. He liked shark fin soup so much that he would have it as many as three times a week. Mr. Fujimoto recalled visiting a restaurant in Shiokubo, Tokyo to learn the recipe for spicy catfish stew.
Since 1994, seven top brass in the North Korean military have joined Mr. Kim for lavish meals, including the late Marshal O Jin-woo, Vice Marshal Jo Myong-rok and General Pak Jae-gyoung in the People’s Army. Sometimes they were accompanied by their wives, and brought gifts that they said were from Japan’s Shikoku, Hokkaido and Disneyland Tokyo.
The chef said that he also witnessed a party where a five-member “pleasure group,” or group of female performers, danced disco for the party guests. During the performance, Mr. Kim suddenly told them to take of their clothes, the book says. They did, he alleges. Mr. Kim then urged the performers to remove their underwear, Mr. Fujimoto said, and they did this as well. Mr. Kim then told the officials at the party to dance with them, but warned “Don’t touch. Dancing is allowed, but you are a thief if you lay a hand.”
Mr. Fujimoto said that the North Korean leader showed special affection for Ko Young-hee, one of his three wives. The other is Seong Hye-rim, who has died, and whose eldest son, Kim Jung-nam, is expected to succeed Kim Jong-il. But Kim Jung-nam has not been able to return to the North after he unsuccessfully attempted to enter Japan in 2001. Kim Jung-nam was last seen in Russia. Kim Jong-il reportedly favors his third son, Kim Jung-un.
Mr. Fujimoto said that Kim Jong-il often seemed deep in sorrow, spending many hours alone in his room. He was seen with a gun resting beside him, the book says.

by Oh Day-young