Eccentric former NBA star returns to N Korea
FLAMBOYANT former NBA star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea yesterday after saying he wanted to open the door to the regime and claiming that US President Donald Trump would be pleased with his mission.
Sporting a baseball cap, sunglasses, multiple facial piercings and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the logo of sponsor PotCoin -- a cryptocurrency for the legal dagga industry -- Rodman was greeted at Pyongyang airport by Sports Vice-Minister Son Kwang-ho and journalists.
“I’m just trying to open the door,” the eccentric ex-Chicago Bulls power forward said at Beijing airport before boarding his Air Koryo flight.
Asked whether he had spoken to Trump about his trip, Rodman said: “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's trip to North Korea is at least his fifth. Most recently in 2014 he attracted a deluge of criticism after being filmed singing happy birthday to his “friend for life”, leader Kim Jong-un.
The latest visit comes amid high tensions between Washington and Pyongyang – which is currently holding four Americans – following a series of missile tests by the North, which have triggered tightened UN sanctions.
The 56-year-old NBA Hall of Famer, who was heavily criticised for failing to raise the plight of a jailed US missionary on a previous trip, said discussing detained US citizens was “not my purpose right now”.
The player nicknamed “The Worm” is one of the few Westerners to have met Kim, who took over following the death of his father Kim Jong-il in 2011.
It is not clear whether Rodman, who once dated Madonna and was married to model and actress Carmen Electra, will be meeting Kim Jong-un during the current trip.
He said in Beijing his aim was to try to “bring sports to North Korea”.
He has previously described his visits -- including one in 2013 with the Harlem Globetrotters – as basketball diplomacy but has been roundly criticised for failing to raise human rights issues.
A senior Trump administration official told Fox News that Rodman was going to the North “as a private citizen”.