The sushi chef who worked for late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Monday he met current leader Kim Jong Un during a visit this month to Pyongyang.
Asked at Beijing's international airport before leaving for Japan if he had met with Kim Jong Un while in North Korea, the chef, known by the alias Kenji Fujimoto, simply replied: "Of course."
Fujimoto, who arrived in Beijing from Pyongyang on Saturday, said his visit was timed to coincide with the birthday of North Korea's late founder, Kim Il Sung, on April 15. He declined to provide any other information.
Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic relations, and Fujimoto's trip was made at a delicate time. Since the beginning of the year, North Korea has been ratcheting up regional tensions with nuclear threats and missile launches.
In response to its fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a rocket using banned missile technology a month later, the U.N. Security Council imposed its toughest-ever sanctions on North Korea.
While serving as a sushi chef for Kim Jong Il from 1989 to 2001, Fujimoto also befriended Kim Jong Un, who inherited power following his father's death in December 2011.
Fujimoto was reunited with the current leader in July 2012, when he made his first trip to North Korea in 11 years.
