[imText1]Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong Il’s former private chef, issued a challenge to Kim Jong Eun yesterday, asserting, “If the Kim Jong Eun era has arrived, North Korea should shut down all the North Korean military’s political prison camps and release the prisoners.”
Fujimoto was participating in “Kim Jong Nam vs. Kim Jong Eun,” a debate hosted by Open Radio for North Korea at Press Center in Seoul.
Fujimoto further emphasized, “North Korea should return those people they abducted from South Korea and Japan to their countries, and let the North Korean people eat to their heart’s content,” adding, “For the North Korean people to eat well, reform and opening are the only way forward. This should be done today.”
However, Fujimoto said that it is “very difficult” to imagine Kim Jong Eun opening up the nation, explaining, “Kim Jong Eun’s authority is authority obtained through hereditary succession. If a reform and opening policy premised on Kim Jong Eun’s leadership is to come to fruition, it will take more than ten years.”
However, Fujimoto did concede that Kim Jong Eun appears to have the qualities of a leader, explaining, “I saw Kim Jong Eun from when he was young. Even when he was playing with Jong Cheol, he was the one who led, and his natural leadership could be seen through such events.”
Fujimoto also offered his view of a recent interview which Kim Jong Il’s first son, Kim Jong Nam, gave to a Japanese TV network, an interview in which he used the name “North Korea” while expressing in surprisingly clear terms his opposition to the third generation succession.
“Kim Jong Nam’s statement could put his life in danger. I was very surprised by it,” Fujimoto said, adding, “North Korea always uses the expression ‘Republic’ or ‘North Chosun (Korea).’ Kim Jong Il particularly detests the term ‘North Korea’; this appears to have been a statement through which to show determination. It did not come out by accident in the process of speaking.”
Therefore, Fujimoto concluded ominously, “Since the recent actions and statements of Kim Jong Nam are jeopardizing North Korea, there is a possibility that North Korea will assassinate him.”
On the other hand, Fujimoto also added, “A cooperative relationship where Kim Jong Eun and Kim Jong Cheol share authority is possible. However, since Kim Jong Cheol is a gentle and patient person, he will follow Kim Jong Eun.”
Meanwhile, in his comments at the same event, Open Radio for North Korea President Ha Tae Kyung commented, “People had high hopes for reform and opening, but they have been disappointed in the fact that Kim Jong Eun has appeared and moved to strengthen and continue the Military-first policy.” As a result, he went on, “An anti-Kim Jong Eun movement is in train inside North Korea, and there are strong indications of a faction developing.”
Especially, Ha said, “Even the elite are suggesting that Kim Jong Il should die soon, which means anti-Kim Jong Eun emotions are pointing towards Kim Jong Il. Criticisms of Kim Jong Eun are shared between close neighbors, but no one reports them like in the past.”
Also, he asserted, “Officially, China is supporting Kim Jong Eun, but in reality there are a lot of elite figures who are actually not pleased. Since the time of Deng Xiaoping, China has consistently talked about reform and opening, but North Korea has not listened to it, so now China prefers Kim Jong Nam.”
