The youngest son and heir apparent of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il will leave his country isolated even after he takes over power, the leader’s former Japanese chef said yesterday.
“Reforms and an open-door policy will be difficult” under the rule of Jong-Un, said Kenji Fujimoto, who became the leader’s sushi chef in 1988.
He said the appointment of Jong-Un as leader-in-waiting had been expected because his father had favoured him from boyhood over his two brothers – eldest son Jong-Nam and middle son Jong-Chul.
He said Jong-Un would need at least five years to cement his status as heir apparent and probably 10 years to execute completely independent policies.
Mr Fujimoto, however, ruled out any power struggle between Jong-Un and Jong-Chul, saying the two would cooperate. “I believe Jong-Chul will support (Jong-Un) after he takes over power,” he told reporters in Seoul.
Swiss-educated Jong-Un, believed to be aged about 27, was made a four-star general and given key party posts late last month, when his official photo was also published for the first time. Yesterday he and his father attended a rally in Pyongyang in tribute to the country’s 60-year military alliance with China, state media reported.
Little is known about his life but newspaper reports say he enjoyed basketball at the Swiss schools and also liked skiing and watching action movies starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
In an earlier memoir of his years in Pyongyang, the Japanese former chef described Jong-Un as a “chip off the old block, a spitting image of his father in terms of face, body shape and personality”.
In Seoul, Mr Fujimoto said Kim Jong-Il thought of his second son as unfit for leadership. “Jong-Chul had a very gentle nature. I’ve rarely seen him getting angry.”
And Jong-Nam had never been allowed to take part in major political meetings chaired by his father, he said.
Jong-Nam has been living mainly in Beijing and the Chinese territory of Macau since apparently falling out of favour with his father in 2001.
In a frank interview with Japan’s TV Asahi broadcast two weeks ago, Jong-Nam expressed opposition to another hereditary power transfer in the communist state.
However, the 39-year-old said he would accept his father’s choice and that “for my part, I am prepared to help my younger brother whenever necessary while I stay abroad”.
Mr Fujimoto said Jong-Nam’s comment could endanger his life. “I was surprised at what he said.”
Ha Tae-Keung, head of Open Radio for North Korea which broadcasts to the secretive communist country, told the same forum the comment was premeditated.
“Jong-Nam, who is relatively liberal, was sending a message that the regime should pursue reforms and open its door,” Mr Ha said.
Mr Ha also said Jong-Un has failed to win public confidence as next leader.
“Many North Koreans are now unhappy because the regime strengthened ideological control after Jong-Un made his political debut,” he said.
Mr Ha predicted there would be “a considerable period of instability” after the current leader’s death.