Rodman planning ‘vacation’ with N. Korea’s Kim
US: The odd couple is getting odder: first, Dennis Rodman and North
Korean leader Kim Jong-Un take in a hoops game side by side. Now,
they're reportedly planning a holiday together. The retired and
flamboyant 51-year-old, who announced the vacation plan Monday, became
the most high-profile American to meet Kim, doing so during a recent
trip to Pyongyang which came against a backdrop of increased North
Korean saber-rattling on the peninsula.
While officials in Washington have played down the significance of
the trip, stating that the former Chicago Bulls star does not represent
the views of the United States, Rodman said Monday he plans to return to
the isolated and impoverished state.
In brief comments to the KXJB local television station in Fargo,
North Dakota, Rodman described Kim as a friend.
“I don't condone what he does, but he's my friend,” Rodman told a
reporter. Asked if he planned to return to North Korea, Rodman replied:
“Yes I will. In August. I'm vacationing with him.” Rodman's remarks came
as Kim threatened to “wipe out” a South Korean island and North Korea
came under renewed diplomatic fire, with US sanctions an
d UN charges of gross rights abuses.
US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell last week rejected the
suggestion that Rodman could become an ambassador to North Korea, given
his new unexpected relationship with Kim.“I'm not even sure I can
dignify that with a response,” Ventrell said.
AFP
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