Perhaps the most unlikely scene one might imagine: Basketball
bad-boy Dennis Rodman takes in a basketball game with North
Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Perhaps in a bow to the cultural
significance of the day, Rodman 'dressed down' for the event.
Kim Jong-Un and Dennis Rodman 'Sit Together, Talk and Laugh' (Xinhua,
People's Republic of China)
It may be
the most unlikely pairing in the history of sports or diplomacy. According to
this news item from China's state-run Xinhua, witnesses report seeing former NBA basketball player Dennis
Rodman taking in a basketball game with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. And according to the report, the two communicated jovially
without an interpreter.
PYONGYANG: On Thursday, Kim Jong-un,
the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, sat with former NBA
star Dennis Rodman, and watched a basketball game between players from the U.S.
and DPRK, witnesses said.
With 12 players from North Korea and four from the U.S. team
The Harlem Globetrotters divided into two teams, the game ended in a 110-110
draw.
Rodman said after the game, "although relations between
the two countries are regrettable, I am a friend of Marshal Kim Jong-un and the people of the DPRK."
He reportedly thanked the DPRK for
inviting he and the other U.S. players, noting that the game reflected friendship
between the two peoples.
During the match, Rodman, who wore dark glasses and a hat,
sat to the left of Kim Jong-un. Without translators,
the two spoke directly to one another and laughed, witnesses said.
Cheerleaders wearing traditional Korean clothes and
miniskirts performed during intermission. After the game, a university from the
country presented The Harlem Globetrotters with a banner. College students and citizens
of Pyongyang, as well as foreign diplomats and representatives of international
organizations, were invited to watch the game.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
Foreign journalists have not been invited to cover the trip
by the U.S. delegation, but local media have given timely coverage to the
visit, which began Tuesday.
Rodman will depart before other members of the U.S. delegation,
who are scheduled to visit the border outpost of Panmunjom before leaving on
March 5th.
The Harlem team said that North Korea was their 122nd stop
on their current world tour, and that they decided to come after receiving an
invitation from the DPRK Sports Ministry one month
ago.
