US Basketball Team Flies to North Korea for Wednesday’s Game

Dennis Rodman and 11 basketball players have set off for North Korea. The ‘basketball diplomacy’ trip, to celebrate Kim Jong-Un’s birthday, is the latest in the publicity stunt sponsored by PaddyPower, an Irish betting firm. The game is set to take place on Wednesday.

Rodman has been strongly criticized for ignoring North Korea’s appalling human rights record. State department officials have distanced themselves from the trip stating emphatically that Rodman does not represent the United States in any way, shape or form.

Rodman and his team are visiting at a time when there is increasing international concern over the stability of the regime.

When asked by Sky News US if he was aware of the 200,000 political prisoners locked up in North Korean labor camps Rodman replied:

“Are you aware that lots of people in America is locked up like that too?”

On discussing human rights issues with Kim Jong-Un he said:

“That’s not the right thing to do. He’s my friend first. He’s my friend. I don’t give a ****. I tell the world: he’s my ******* friend, I love him.”

Under the North Korean three generational system, individuals found guilty of a crime are sent to a labor camp with their entire family, and the next two generations are born, and live their entire lives in the camp.

As I said a couple of weeks ago, what happens if the North Koreans lose? There is a great tradition of leaders of the secretive regime ‘saving face’.

• Would a loss by the North Korean team be seen as a deliberate attempt by the American team to make the North Koreans look foolish?
• Would Rodman with his piercings and tats be seen as a bad influence on North Korean youth?
• Will Kim Jong-Un just decide that Rodman and/or the team were allowed to travel to his country so that they can return with information that may be useful to the west?

Hopefully the trip will pass off without incident regardless of the outcome of the game…but with someone unpredictable enough to feed his uncle to starving dogs, I think it’s a risk that I personally wouldn’t even consider taking.

If something does go wrong, Rodman and PaddyPower have to assume full responsibility for it and not come bleating to the US government to bail them out.

Sources:

https://www.thedailysheeple.com/quan-jue-execution-by-dog_012014

https://www.thedailysheeple.com/what-happens-if-dennis-rodman-and-his-nba-team-beat-the-north-koreans_122013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25618130

http://news.sky.com/story/1190697/dennis-rodman-i-love-kim-jong-un

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/06/rodman-departs-with-team-in-tow-for-north-korea-exhibition/