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Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him. At Pyongyang's Sunan airport on his way to Beijing, Rodman said it was "amazing" that the North Koreans were "so honest." He added that Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, "were great leaders." "He's proud, his country likes him - not like him, love him, love him," Rodman said of Kim Jong Un. "Guess what, I love him. The guy's really awesome."
At Beijing's airport, Rodman pushed past waiting journalists without saying anything. Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, sent a text message to The Associated Press saying Rodman will be in New York on Sunday "to do some major press interviews and talk about his trip in North Korea as well as discussing what's accurate and inaccurate from the press the past few days." Rodman's visit to North Korea began Monday and took place amid 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.
The State Department on Friday distanced itself from Rodman's visit and his praise for Kim, saying he doesn't represent the United States. "The North Korean regime has a horrific human rights record, quite possibly the worst human rights situation in the world," spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters in Washington. He accused the regime of depriving their people of food, shelter, water and maintaining prison gulags. Ventrell also took aim at Pyongyang for its grand treatment of the visiting basketball stars. "Clearly you've got the regime spending money to wine and dine foreign visitors, when they should be feeding their own people," he said.
Rodman traveled to Pyongyang with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, Ryan Duffy, a correspondent with the New York-based VICE media company, and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls star that he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, said Shane Smith, founder of VICE, which calls itself a global youth media company.
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However, advocates for engagement argue that greater exposure to Americans may ultimately be the best way to bring change to North Korea, which vilifies the US and says its nuclear program is in response to US hostility. Rodman watched the famed Harlem Globetrotters next to visibly delighted young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, before the two sipped drinks. The tattooed ex-NBA star called Kim an awesome kid and told him: You have a friend for life.
The US Department of State, while saying it had no position on private citizens travels, took issue with Rodmans praise for the leader of a country with quite possibly the worst human rights situation in the world. Clearly, youve got the regime spending money to wine and dine foreign visitors when they should be feeding their own people. So this isnt really a time for business as usual with Pyongyang, Department of State spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
In an earlier era, the Department of State itself tried basketball diplomacy. Madeleine Albright, who in 2000 became the only US secretary of state to visit North Korea, presented then-leader Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-uns late father with a basketball signed by Rodmans legendary teammate Michael Jordan. Robert Carlin, a longtime US policymaker on North Korea who accompanied Albright, said that the US wanted to give a unique gift and that Kim Jong-il understood that the basketball was meant to show goodwill.
Carlin, now a visiting scholar at Stanford University, said that Kim Jong-uns welcome to Rodman sent its own signal to North Koreans taught for decades that the US is an enemy. It certainly looks like the message that was going out from Kim Jong-un to his people is that Americans arent so bad, we can cooperate with them, we can sit next to them and we can cooperate in sports, Carlin said. He downplayed the impact of Rodmans remarks, saying that he was an athlete speaking off the cuff, and hoped that the visit and possible future exchanges could ease Americans isolation from North Korea.
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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 about 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." "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" but also "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.
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