Rodman in North Korea to visit his "friend' Kim

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman arrives Tuesday at the departure hall of Beijing International Capital Airport in Beijing. Rodman is heading to North Korea for the second time this year for what he says is a visit to his friend, the communist nation's leader, Kim Jong Un.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman arrives Tuesday at the departure hall of Beijing International Capital Airport in Beijing. Rodman is heading to North Korea for the second time this year for what he says is a visit to his friend, the communist nation's leader, Kim Jong Un.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - Former NBA star Dennis Rodman landed Tuesday in North Korea and said he plans to hang out with authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un, have a good time and maybe bridge some cultural gaps - but not be a diplomat.

Rodman was greeted at Pyongyang's airport by Son Kwang Ho, vice-chairman of North Korea's Olympic Committee, just days after Pyongyang rejected a visit by a U.S. envoy who had hoped to bring home Kenneth Bae, an American missionary jailed there. The North abruptly called off the official visit because it said the U.S. had ruined the atmosphere for talks by holding a drill over South Korea with nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

Rodman said the purpose of his visit was to display his friendship for Kim and North Korea and to "show people around the world that we as Americans can actually get along with North Korea."

Speaking to reporters in Beijing ahead of his flight to Pyongyang, Rodman declined to say whether he would seek Bae's release. Bae's health is poor, and he was recently transferred to a hospital.

"I just want to meet my friend Kim, the marshal, and start a basketball league over there or something like that," said Rodman, wearing rings through his lower lip and each nostril. "I have not been promised anything. I am just going there as a friendly gesture."

Bae was arrested in November and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what Pyongyang described as hostile acts against the state. Rodman once asked on his Twitter account for Kim to "do me a solid" and release Bae. Kim has the power to grant special pardons under the North's constitution.

"I'm not there to be a diplomat. I'm there to go there and just have a good time, sit with (Kim) and his family, and that's pretty much it," Rodman said, adding that he planned to see Kim "pretty soon," perhaps later Tuesday or Wednesday. Rodman is being hosted in North Korea by the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sport, which has not confirmed if or when Rodman will meet Kim Jong Un