Dennis Rodman has returned to North Korea, ya know, that country that’s a nuclear threat to the United States, “to see my friend,” dictator Kim Jong-un.
The former basketball player said he was planning a five-day visit to North Korea, but played down speculation that he would try to secure the release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American Christian missionary who has been jailed there since late last year after being detained on North Korean soil.
The New York Times report:
“I’m not going to North Korea to discuss freeing Kenneth Bae,” Mr. Rodman, a Basketball Hall of Fame member, told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I’m just going there on another basketball diplomacy tour.”
His visit comes amid a thaw in relations between North and South Korea, sworn enemies that just months ago appeared to be on the brink of military conflict.
Mr. Rodman’s last trip to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, was sponsored by Vice Media, and he drew wide criticism for cozying up to a government with a long record of human rights abuses. This time, he said his trip was being sponsored by Paddy Power, an Irish gambling operation. After Mr. Rodman’s first North Korea trip, Paddy Power sent Mr. Rodman to Vatican City to urge people to place their bets on a new pope.
But Mr. Rodman said this trip to see Mr. Kim was all about friendship — and sports.
“I’ve come out here to see my friend,” he said in an allusion to the dictator. “I want to talk about basketball.”
And as a reminder, during his visit to North Korea in March, Dennis Rodman told reporters in Pyongyang that North Koreans “love” Kim Jong-un, adding, “I love him — the guy’s awesome.”
SOURCE: NY Times | Photo Credit: Getty
