美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-03-07

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"He is a good guy to me, guess what? He is my friend."

He is my friend, that's Dennis Rodman, and this is Dennis Rodman's new friend. His name is Kim, Dennis is a pro-basketball hall of famer, Mr.Kim is not, he's got other hobbies, but he is a fan. So when Dennis, members of the Harlem Globetrotters and a production team from vice² media visited Kim last week. Mr.Kim and his crew really show their affection for the player and the game, Dennis tweeted, quote, "They love basketball here, honored to represent the United States for America."

Here in this case, is North Korea, and Kim is North Korea's new dictator Kim Jong-un. His other hobbies includes testing nuclear weapons, building rockets to carry them anywhere in the world, and threatening to use them on Dennis's home and, well, I'll let the North Korean spokesman finish that one.

"In the upcoming order action, a new phase of the anti-U.S struggle that has lasted century after century will target against the U.S, the sworn enemy of the Korean people."

Not very friendly, is it? Oh by the way, Kim Jong-un also maintains a whole network of concentration camps where tens of thousands of people are all housed and die of starvation and disease and neglect and execution. Kim Jong-un is belligerent³ towards the United States, he's downright vicious to his own people. According to human rights watch, Kim's rise to power since the death of his father, quote, "Has had no positive impact on the country's dire⁴ human rights record."

More than 200,000 North Koreans it's estimated, including children, living starving and dying in forced labor⁵ camps, concentration camps, really, many will spend their entire lives from cradle-to-grave behind barbed wire. Outside the wire, this is a country with a history of government imposed mass starvation that continues to this day. Millions died in the 90s, even now, North Korean dissidents tell of smaller families throughout the country.

Old people abandoned for lack of food, even children being killed and eaten. It's not just when they take, by the way, a political prisoner and they send them to concentration camps, they don't just send that person, they send three generations of that person's families. The only country in the world that has this draconian⁶ punishment.

That and always random⁷ terror and imprisonment⁸ and torture, all of which, in fact, any of which, would make a chilling backdrop to Dennis Rodman's visit. It certainly makes a mockery that of the PR footage and happy tweets.

As you saw at the top, Rodman appeared this weekend on ABC's this week, defending his friend and the trip.

"Guess what, I don't condone⁹ what he does, but as far as person to person, he's my friend, I supposed what he does..."

"Someone who hypothetically is a murder, who's your friend is still a murder."

"Well, you know, it is seriously, you know, I do, guess what, guess what, what I did, what I did, was history, was history, and guess what, it's just like we do over here in America, right? It's amazing that we have presidents over here doing the same thing, right? It's amazing Bill Clinton can do one thing have sex with his Secretary, and do one thing, and really get away with it and still be powerful..."

"How can you compare that to prison camps?"

"Now prison camp do one thing, we don't need to do one thing. Object that, but only do it, object that, but guess what? We do one thing, friend to friend, right? It's a friend to friend, he's a friend to me, that's about it."

He doesn't make any sense, he says he's going back, by the way, he also says wants president Obama to call him.

The United States has direct channels of communications with the DPRK, and instead of spending money on celebrity¹⁰ sporting events to entertain the elites¹¹ of that country, the North Korea regime should focus on the well being of its own people who have been starved, imprisoned¹² and denied their human rights.

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