Rodman hoping to open door for Trump
Print Edition
FORMER NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman, who has palled around with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, flew to Pyongyang yesterday on a trip he says he hopes will “open a door” for his former “Celebrity Apprentice” boss — US President Donald Trump.
Rodman, one of the few people to know both of the nuclear-armed leaders, sported a black T-shirt advertising a cyber currency used to buy and sell marijuana as he talked to reporters briefly before boarding his flight from Beijing to the North Korean capital.
Rodman’s arrival in Pyongyang was relatively low-key and his schedule remained a mystery.
He was met by North Korean Vice Minister of Sports Son Kwang Ho. Officials said he was to stay until Saturday. He breezed through customs and immigration at Pyongyang’s airport before being whisked away to his hotel.
“I’m just here to see some friends and have a good time,” he said.
Rodman received the red-carpet treatment on his four past trips since 2013, which generated a lot of publicity — most of it not good — and did little in terms of diplomacy. On this trip, he has already been roundly criticized by some for visiting during a time of high tensions between the US and North Korea over its weapons programs and recent missile launches.
“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s pretty much happy with the fact that I’m over here trying to accomplish something that we both need,” Rodman said in Beijing when asked if Trump was aware of the trip.
Rodman said the issue of Americans detained by North Korea is “not my purpose right now.”
A US official said Rodman’s trip was as a private citizen.
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