Rodman lauds ‘awesome’ Kim

US : Former NBA star Dennis Rodman lauded North Korea’s new ruler as an “awesome kid” and his father and grandfather as “great leaders” at the end of his basketball diplomacy mission to Pyongyang.

At a time of high US-North Korea tensions following Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test, the man who once dated Madonna became the most high-profile American to meet Kim Jong-Un, with whom he watched a basketball match.

Kim “is like his grandfather and his father, who are great leaders, he is an awesome kid, very honest and loves his wife so much”, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Rodman as saying before he left for Beijing on Friday.

Little is known about Kim’s fashionable wife Ri Sol-Ju, who caused quite a stir when she emerged on the national scene last July.

“You have a friend for life,” Rodman told Kim in a speech after Thursday’s game between a North Korean side and a US team featuring members of the Harlem Globetrotters, which ended in a diplomatic 110-110 tie.

His comments were recorded in a statement by the New York-based VICE media company, which organised Rodman’s trip.

The Swiss-educated Kim Jong-Un, believed to be aged in his late 20s, is reported to be a huge fan of basketball and the Chicago Bulls, with whom Rodman won three NBA titles alongside Michael Jordan in the 1990s.

Rodman’s access to Kim, who took over the reins of power after Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011, raised more than a few eyebrows among Pyongyang watchers.

A recent delegation to North Korea that included Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, never got to see the young leader.

In an enthusiastic commentary on the Kim-Rodman meeting, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency quoted the former Chicago Bulls’ star -- nicknamed “The Worm” -- as saying the current impasse in US-North Korean relations was “regrettable”.

At a reception after the game, Kim expressed his “pleasure” at the Harlem Globetrotters’ visit, and said he hoped such sporting exchanges would improve understanding between Americans and North Koreans.

Rodman tweeted during the visit, to say North Koreans love basketball and that he was “honoured” to represent the United States.

According to the VICE statement, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy approached Kim during the post-game reception on Thursday and invited him to visit the United States.

AFP