Feared missing, Kim Jong-un’s ex-sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto is alive and well – and serving the British ambassador lunch
- He was earlier reported to have been arrested after sharing candid memories of North Korean leader’s childhood
- Tweet shows Fujimoto preparing ‘excellent’ sashimi for diplomat Colin Crooks in Pyongyang
Kim Jong-un’s former personal sushi chef, whose recent candid remembrances of the North Korean leader’s cloistered upbringing led to fears that he was being held incommunicado, appears to be well – serving lunch to Britain’s ambassador.
A tweet posted on Tuesday by Britain’s envoy to North Korea, Colin Crooks, showed Japanese chef Kenji Fujimoto preparing assorted sashimi for the diplomat.
Fujimoto, who worked for North Korea’s ruling family for more than a decade, was feared missing after he wrote and spoke extensively about his time as Kim’s childhood companion.
Reports emerged in late June that Fujimoto had been arrested by the government for a “past betrayal”, according to a Japanese intelligence official.
But in July, reported sightings of Fujimoto at work in his Pyongyang-based restaurant Takahashi began to emerge and Crooks’ Twitter posts on Tuesday confirmed that the chef was alive and well.
