Dennis Rodman Says He Won’t Return to North Korea

Stung by criticism of his amateur diplomacy and self proclaimed friendship with Kim Jong Un, probably  the world’s worst dictator, former NBA star Dennis Rodman told ESPN that he would not return to North Korea if people don’t want him to. Rodman insisted he has been misunderstood and just wanted to help improve relations between the U.S. and North Korea.

We will for the moment give Rodman the benefit of the doubt that his intentions were honorable, if overwhelmingly naïve and perhaps harmful.  Former New Mexico governor and U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson, who has a proven track record dealing with despots on the diplomatic front, thinks Rodman hurt Richardson’s efforts to negotiate a release of American Kenneth Bae, who is serving a 15-year sentence at hard labor for attempting to topple the North Korean regime.

In the end, Rodman’s basketball diplomacy made him look foolish at best, and borderline treasonous in some quarters with his fawning compliments of Kim Jong Un.  Meanwhile in elections held March 9th, to the surprise of no one, Kim was elected unanimously to a seat in North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, which is the country’s token legislative body.