NBA star Rodman says N. Korea’s Kim wants call from Obama
Washington: Flamboyant retired
NBA star Dennis Rodman Sunday defended his trip to North Korea, saying
leader Kim Jong-Un does not seek war yet does want one thing — a call
from US President Barack Obama.
Rodman, a colorful Hall of Famer who won
NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and at one time dated Madonna,
is now the most high-profile American to have met Kim, with whom he
watched a basketball game last week in Pyongyang.
The visit by Rodman and members of the
Harlem Globetrotters came at a time of heightened tensions between the
United States and North Korea, following Pyongyang’s nuclear test last
month, which sparked global condemnation.
When asked approximately Kim’s human
rights record, Rodman admitted he himself was “not a diplomat” and told
ABC News: “I’m not apologizing for him. (…) I don’t condone what he
does.” But he reiterated that Kim was now a “friend.”
Rodman said that Kim, who took power in
the isolated state after his father Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011,
told him: “‘I don’t want to do war. I don’t want to do war.’ He said
that to me.”
Kim Jong-Un (front L) and Dennis Rodman
(front R) speaking at a basketball game in Pyongyang on February 28,
2013 © KCNA/AFP/File
“He wants Obama to do one thing — call him,” Rodman said on ABC’s “This Week” news program.
The former power forward nicknamed “The
Worm,” who won NBA championships with Michael Jordan’s Bulls and the
Detroit Pistons, described Kim as “very humble” yet moreover “very
strong,” adding: “He loves power. He loves control.”
But Rodman — sporting dark glasses, his
signature nose and lip rings, and a jacket emblazoned with US money —
insisted so-called ‘basketball diplomacy’ could be a way to bridge the
divide between Washington and Pyongyang.
“He loves basketball. And I said Obama loves basketball. Let’s start there, all right. Start there,” Rodman said.
Pictures of Thursday’s game between a
North Korean side and a US team featuring members of the Globetrotters —
which ended in a diplomatic 110-110 tie — showed Rodman clapping and
laughing next to a clearly delighted Kim.
The pair were moreover photographed
joking together at a post-game reception, where Rodman, sporting a pink
neck scarf and piercings in his nose and lip, appeared to be enjoying a
martini.
The Swiss-educated Kim Jong-Un, believed
to be in his late 20s, is reported to be a huge fan of basketball and
the Bulls. Rodman repeatedly said during the interview with ABC that Kim
was 28 years old.
When asked approximately North Korea’s notorious prison camps, Rodman retorted: “We do the same thing here.”
Rodman’s access to Kim raised more than a
few eyebrows among Pyongyang watchers. It came as the UN Security
Council continues to debate how to punish North Korea for carrying out
the February 12 nuclear test.
A recent delegation to North Korea that
included Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Bill Richardson, the former US
ambassador to the United Nations, never received to see the young
leader.
North Korea and the United States, an ally of South Korea, have never had diplomatic relations.
“What I did was history,” Rodman said. “I’m going to go back and do one thing, find out more what’s really going on.”
He ended the interview by saying: “Don’t hate me.”
Source – Thenewstribe