North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.
CBS NEWS
SEOUL, South Korea -- Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman
hung out Thursday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un on the third day of
his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters
with the leader and later dining and drinking with him at his palace.
"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of
thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they
watched players from North Korea and the U.S. play on mixed teams, Alex
Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The
Associated Press.
Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday
with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball
team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an
episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.
The
unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet
Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and
takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and
Pyongyang. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two
weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United
States to drop what it considers a "hostile" policy toward the North.
Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he
hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North
Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said.
Dressed in a blue
Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on the table before him
during the game as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman. Rodman, the
man who once turned up in a wedding dress to promote his autobiography,
wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had on his nose rings
and other piercings. A can of Coca-Cola sat on the table before him in
photos shared with AP by VICE.
The two chatted in
English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, Smith
said after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang.
"They
bonded during the game," Smith said by telephone from New York after
speaking to the crew. "They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the
Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show."
The surprise visit by the flamboyant Hall of Famer known as "The
Worm" makes him an unlikely ambassador at a time when North Koreans are
girding for battle with the U.S. Just last week, Kim guided frontline
troops in military exercises.
North Korea and the U.S.
fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a
truce in 1953. The foes never signed a peace treaty, and do not have
diplomatic relations.
Thursday's game ended in a 110-110
draw, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans,
Detrick said. The Xinhua News Agency first reported on the game, citing
witnesses who attended.
After the game, Rodman addressed
Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans,
telling him, "You have a friend for life," Detrick said.
At
a lavish dinner at Kim's palace, the leader plied the group with food
and drinks as the group made round after round of toasts, members of the
delegation said.
VICE producer Jason Mojica wrote on his Twitter feed from Pyongyang:
Um... so Kim Jong Un just got the #VICEonHBO crew wasted... no really, that happened.
Duffy later invited Kim to visit the United States, a proposal met
with hearty laughter from the North Korean leader, Smith said, adding
that he was "speechless" after hearing from Duffy how well the dinner
went.
Rodman's trip is the second attention-grabbing U.S. visit this year
to North Korea. Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a
four-day trip in January to Pyongyang, but did not meet the North Korean
leader.
Extending an invitation to a man known as much
for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as for his basketball may
seem inexplicable. But Kim is known to love the NBA, and has promoted
sports since becoming leader.
"We knew that he's a big
lover of basketball, especially the Bulls, and it was our intention
going in that we would have a good-will mission of something that's
fun," Smith said. "A lot of times, things just are serious and
everybody's so concerned with geopolitics that we forget just to be
human beings."
Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, said Rodman wasn't concerned about criticism about making a visit to an enemy nation.
"Dennis
called me last night and said it's been a great experience and he made
this trip out of the love of the USA ," he said. "It's all about peace
and love."
Rodman took to Twitter after arriving in North
Koreas on Tuesday, saying he was "honored to represent The United
States of America," adding:
I'm not a politician. Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story. #WORMinNorthKorea