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TOKYO-Plenty of revelations are coming forth from the new book written by Kim Jong Il's former Japanese chef, Kenji Fujimoto, though they are difficult to verify. Fujimoto said that a nuclear accident occurred in North Korea in 1995, and that those involved in the nuclear facilities were damaged by a great deal.
Fujimoto, who was Kim's chef from 1988 to 2001, when he defected, released "Kim Jong-il's Chef" in Japan on Friday. He said that he heard Kim Ki-nam, a top North Korean government official, report to Kim Jong-il after the accident that workers in the nuclear facilities were loosing teeth and accidents were occurring.
He also said that he saw Kim Jong-il fall off a horse and that Kim was unconscious for several hours afterward. There were rumors that Kim had fallen from a horse, but it was never confirmed via testimonies.
The cook also said that Kim was grooming his third son, Kim Jeong-woon, over this second, Kim Jeong-cheol, as his successor.
After first landing in North Korea in 1982, he was selected as Kim Jong-il's private chef in 1988. In 1996, during a trip to Japan, police there arrested him after they found that the Dominican Republic passport he was carrying was fake. Returned to North Korea, the regime there began suspecting that he was a spy. He defected in 2001 via China, due to the pressure.
(Choi Heup, pot@chosun.com )
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