Rodman tells NKorea leader he has 'friend for life'
Source: Agencies |
March 1, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
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EX-NBA star Dennis Rodman hung out yesterday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with Kim and later dining and drinking with him at his palace.
"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the US play on mixed teams, Alex Detrick, said a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company.
Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a HBO series.
The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang.
Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said.
Dressed in a blue Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on the table before him during the game as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman. Rodman wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had on his nose rings and other piercings.
The two chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, Smith said after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang.
"They bonded during the game," Smith said. "They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show."
The game ended in a 110-110 draw, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans. After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans, telling him, "You have a friend for life," Detrick said.
At a lavish dinner at Kim's palace, the leader plied the group with food and drinks as the group made round after round of toasts.
"Um ... so Kim Jong Un just got the (hash)VICEonHBO crew wasted ... no really, that happened," VICE producer Jason Mojica wrote on his Twitter feed from Pyongyang.
Duffy later invited Kim to visit the United States, a proposal met with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader, according to Smith.
"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the US play on mixed teams, Alex Detrick, said a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company.
Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a HBO series.
The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang.
Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said.
Dressed in a blue Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on the table before him during the game as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman. Rodman wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had on his nose rings and other piercings.
The two chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, Smith said after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang.
"They bonded during the game," Smith said. "They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show."
The game ended in a 110-110 draw, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans. After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans, telling him, "You have a friend for life," Detrick said.
At a lavish dinner at Kim's palace, the leader plied the group with food and drinks as the group made round after round of toasts.
"Um ... so Kim Jong Un just got the (hash)VICEonHBO crew wasted ... no really, that happened," VICE producer Jason Mojica wrote on his Twitter feed from Pyongyang.
Duffy later invited Kim to visit the United States, a proposal met with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader, according to Smith.
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