PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- Former NBA star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Thursday to help train the national team and renew his friendship with the North's young leader, Kim Jong Un, a visit unaffected by the recent execution of Kim's uncle in a dramatic political purge.
Rodman was met at
Pyongyang's airport by Vice Sports Minister Son Kwang Ho. He made no
public comments, but told a mob of reporters earlier at Beijing's
airport that he expected, as on previous visits, to meet with Kim and
make final arrangements for a Jan. 8 exhibition game in Pyongyang
marking the leader's birthday.
"I know (Kim) is
waiting for me to come back. So hopefully we will have some conversation
about some things that's going to help the world," Rodman said.
His visit comes less
than a week after North Korea announced the execution of No. 2 official
Jang Song Thaek, an unprecedented fall from grace of one of the most
powerful figures in the country.
Jang's execution marks
North Korea's most serious political upheaval in decades and has sent
North Korea watchers speculating over the stability of the Kim dynasty.
However, Rodman's visit - should it proceed uneventfully - could be a
sign that Kim is firmly in charge and unconcerned with any potential
challenges to his rule.
Asked about the
execution, Rodman said that had nothing to do with his visit. He said he
wasn't worried about his personal safety in the North, despite the
recent detentions of two Americans there, one of whom, Kenneth Bae, has
been held for more than two years.
Rodman and Kim have
struck up an unlikely friendship since the Hall of Famer traveled to the
secretive Communist state for the first time in February with the
Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE
television.
He remains the highest-profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011.
Known as much for his
piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, Rodman has
mostly avoided politics in his dealings with the North. He's mainly
focused on using basketball as a means of boosting understanding and
communication and studiously avoided commenting on the North's human
rights record, regarded as one of the world's worst by activists,
defectors and the U.S. State Department.
Defectors have
repeatedly testified about the government's alleged use of
indiscriminate killings, rapes, beatings and prison camps holding as
many as 120,000 people deemed opponents of Kim, the third generation of
his family to rule.
Rodman said he planned
to return to North Korea in two weeks with a roster of 12 American
basketball players, but offered no names.
"I hope this game
brings a lot of countries together, because as I said, sports it is so
important to people around the world," Rodman said. "So I hope this is
going to engage American people, especially (President Barack) Obama, to
just to try to talk to them."
