

What was Kim Jong-un Like as a Boy? - bane
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/secret-state-of-north-korea/what-was-kim-jong-un-like-as-a-boy/

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joezydeco
Adam Johnson's article on Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-il's personal sushi chef,
is a great read and goes into a bit more depth than this PBS article.

[http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201306/kim-
jong-i...](http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201306/kim-jong-il-
sushi-chef-kenji-fujimoto-adam-johnson)

One interesting tidbit is that Fujimoto introduced Kim Jong-il's sons
(including Kim Jong-un) to basketball. He would routinely show them videotapes
of the Chicago Bulls championship runs. Kim Jong-un grew to idolize Jordan,
Pippen, and ...you guessed it... Dennis Rodman.

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GBond
Actually Kim Jong Il himself was a huge NBA and Bulls fans and his son
probably inherited the love. Madeleine Albright gave Jong Il a basketball
signed by Michael Jordan.

Kim Jong Il's grandson was seen enjoying a K-pop concert. Perhaps one day
external culture can bring upon change where diplomacy has failed in NK.

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joezydeco
Fujimoto seems to take credit for it (via Johnson)

 _" A week later, Shogun-sama [Kim Jong-il] called Fujimoto and informed him
that the nannies had been fired: Fujimoto would be the boys' new playmate, a
position he would hold until Kim Jong-un was 18. Fujimoto introduced them to
video games, remote-control cars, and most important, basketball. Fujimoto's
sister in Japan sent him VHS tapes of Bulls playoff games, so Kim Jong-un's
first taste of Western hoops came from watching Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman—men
who became his heroes."_

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cl8ton
Educated guess… he probably tortured kittens

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nitrogen
_" Educated guess… he probably tortured kittens"_

North Korea (and its leaders) may be strange and unfriendly, but this is not
the kind of comment that belongs on Hacker News.

