Rodman says NK leader wants Obama to call
Source: Agencies |
March 5, 2013, Tuesday
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NORTH Korea's young leader has riled the US with recent nuclear tests, but Kim Jong Un doesn't really want war with the superpower, just a call from President Barack Obama to chat about their shared love of basketball, according to unlikely diplomat Dennis Rodman, the ex-pro basketball star just back from an improbable visit to the country.
"He loves basketball. ... I said Obama loves basketball. Let's start there" as a way to warm up relations between the US and North Korea, Rodman told ABC television's "This Week" on Sunday.
"He asked me to give Obama something to say and do one thing. He wants Obama to do one thing, call him," said Rodman, who called the young leader an "awesome guy" during his trip.
Rodman also said Kim told him, "I don't want to do war. I don't want to do war."
Yet in January, after the UN Security Council voted to condemn North Korea's successful rocket launch in December and expand penalties against Kim's government, his National Defense Commission said in a statement that "settling accounts with the US needs to be done with force, not with words." The statement also promised "a new phase of the anti-US struggle that has lasted century after century."
North Korea and the US fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes technically remain at war. They never signed a peace treaty and do not have diplomatic relations.
Rodman was the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from his father Kim Jong Il in 2011. He traveled to Pyongyang with several members of the Harlem Globetrotters team for a new HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.
The US government disavowed any connection to Rodman's trip. When asked about Kim's "call me" message, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said on Sunday the United States already has communication channels with North Korea.
"We have urged the North Korean leadership to heed President Obama's call to choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its international obligations," Hayden said.
On "This Week," Rodman defended his new friendship with Kim by saying, "I'm not apologizing for him. You know, he's a good guy to me. Guess what? He's my friend. I don't condone what he does ... (but) as a person to person - he's my friend."
He said he planned to go back to North Korea to "find out more what's really going on."
"He loves basketball. ... I said Obama loves basketball. Let's start there" as a way to warm up relations between the US and North Korea, Rodman told ABC television's "This Week" on Sunday.
"He asked me to give Obama something to say and do one thing. He wants Obama to do one thing, call him," said Rodman, who called the young leader an "awesome guy" during his trip.
Rodman also said Kim told him, "I don't want to do war. I don't want to do war."
Yet in January, after the UN Security Council voted to condemn North Korea's successful rocket launch in December and expand penalties against Kim's government, his National Defense Commission said in a statement that "settling accounts with the US needs to be done with force, not with words." The statement also promised "a new phase of the anti-US struggle that has lasted century after century."
North Korea and the US fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes technically remain at war. They never signed a peace treaty and do not have diplomatic relations.
Rodman was the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from his father Kim Jong Il in 2011. He traveled to Pyongyang with several members of the Harlem Globetrotters team for a new HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.
The US government disavowed any connection to Rodman's trip. When asked about Kim's "call me" message, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said on Sunday the United States already has communication channels with North Korea.
"We have urged the North Korean leadership to heed President Obama's call to choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its international obligations," Hayden said.
On "This Week," Rodman defended his new friendship with Kim by saying, "I'm not apologizing for him. You know, he's a good guy to me. Guess what? He's my friend. I don't condone what he does ... (but) as a person to person - he's my friend."
He said he planned to go back to North Korea to "find out more what's really going on."
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