Kim Jong Il's ex-chef says he met with Kim Jong Un on N. Korea trip.

BEIJING, Aug. 4 Kyodo

The Japanese sushi chef for the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Saturday he met with Kim's third son and current leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju during a two-week trip to North Korea.

Speaking to journalists upon his arrival at Beijing airport from Pyongyang, Kenji Fujimoto said he was happy to meet with Kim Jong Un and Ri, whom he described as "pretty and charming," during the visit he said came at the invitation of Kim.

Asked what he talked about with the young leader, who took power after the death of his father in December, Fujimoto said the two discussed "many kinds of issues," without providing details.

Asked whether they discussed issues related to North Korea's relations with Japan, such as ways to address Pyongyang's past abductions of Japanese nationals, Fujimoto only said, "I did not visit (North Korea) for government work."

Fujimoto became acquainted with Kim Jong Un when he served as sushi chef for Kim Jong Il from 1989 to 2001. The latest trip was his first to North Korea in 11 years.

Asked what impressed him the most, Fujimoto quoted Kim Jong Un as telling him that the leader "will welcome you whenever you return to Japan and whenever you come to our country." Fujimoto said he thanked Kim for his kind words.

Fujimoto said he was reunited with his North Korean wife and their daughter during the trip. "(The family) had been waiting for me for 11 years. I'm such a happy man," he said.

Fujimoto said Kim "very much enjoyed" eating bluefin tuna he took with him as a souvenir.

Fujimoto has published a memoir of his life as a chef for Kim Jong Il, in which he said Kim Jong Un was the favorite among the leader's children because he is dynamic and not shy, similar to his father's character.