Dennis Rodman tells N. Korean leader Kim Jong Un: "You have a friend for life"
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. / Jason Mojica,AP Photo/VICE Media
SEOUL, South Korea Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman hung out Thursday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later dining and drinking with him at his palace.
Dennis Rodman travels to North Korea
"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the U.S. play on mixed teams, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press.
Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.
The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a "hostile" policy toward the North.
Dennis Rodman hangs out in North Korea
Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said.
Dressed in a blue Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on the table before him during the game as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman. Rodman, the man who once turned up in a wedding dress to promote his autobiography, wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had on his nose rings and other piercings. A can of Coca-Cola sat on the table before him in photos shared with AP by VICE.
The two chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, Smith said after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang.
"They bonded during the game," Smith said by telephone from New York after speaking to the crew. "They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show."
Life in North Korea
The surprise visit by the flamboyant Hall of Famer known as "The Worm" makes him an unlikely ambassador at a time when North Koreans are girding for battle with the U.S. Just last week, Kim guided frontline troops in military exercises.
North Korea and the U.S. fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes never signed a peace treaty, and do not have diplomatic relations.
Thursday's game ended in a 110-110 draw, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans, Detrick said. The Xinhua News Agency first reported on the game, citing witnesses who attended.
After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans, telling him, "You have a friend for life," Detrick said.
At a lavish dinner at Kim's palace, the leader plied the group with food and drinks as the group made round after round of toasts, members of the delegation said.
VICE producer Jason Mojica wrote on his Twitter feed from Pyongyang:
Um... so Kim Jong Un just got the #VICEonHBO crew wasted... no really, that happened.
— Jason Mojica (@elmodernisto) February 28, 2013
Duffy later invited Kim to visit the United States, a proposal met with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader, Smith said, adding that he was "speechless" after hearing from Duffy how well the dinner went.
Google exec. visits North Korea
Rodman's trip is the second attention-grabbing U.S. visit this year to North Korea. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January to Pyongyang, but did not meet the North Korean leader.
Extending an invitation to a man known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as for his basketball may seem inexplicable. But Kim is known to love the NBA, and has promoted sports since becoming leader.
"We knew that he's a big lover of basketball, especially the Bulls, and it was our intention going in that we would have a good-will mission of something that's fun," Smith said. "A lot of times, things just are serious and everybody's so concerned with geopolitics that we forget just to be human beings."
Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, said Rodman wasn't concerned about criticism about making a visit to an enemy nation.
"Dennis called me last night and said it's been a great experience and he made this trip out of the love of the USA ," he said. "It's all about peace and love."
Rodman took to Twitter after arriving in North Koreas on Tuesday, saying he was "honored to represent The United States of America," adding:
I'm not a politician. Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story. #WORMinNorthKorea
— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) February 26, 2013
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Also, why is "The Worm" NOT smiling in any of the pictures?
Is the North Korean female journalist, who is wistfully staring at Rodman, wondering what "The Worm" really means in English??
Perspiring minds wish to know....
Blind praise is no substitute for that.
Kim Un could fly him over and let him live as a co-ruler before nuking the West for all we know. But we don't. Like I said, "we'll see what happens".
Right now, anything's technically possible. It's a wait and see thing...
In NK, Kim Un is a 2-bit self-important dictator.
Where the difference is, I'm not sure. At least most fans of entertainers aren't forced to love them under duress...
Rodman can stay in North Korea and watch basketball and drink champagne and eat foie gras while the North Korean people die of starvation and neglect.
What common ground? Maybe Rodman wants his fans to grovel and slave while he lives high on the hig. Like Rodman ever worked for a living, all he did was bounce a ball and demand a 9-digit salary in return for doing so...
Or, rather, I can't find much of anything to disagree with, and it will be a while before any ulterior motives are revealed - even then it will be longer while the veracity and sincerity are vetted. People in general, these days, have lost so much trust in political, corporate, celebrity, and other figures...