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Tag: Kenneth Bae

  • Dennis Rodman Checks Into Rehab After N. Korea Backlash

    Dennis Rodman checked into a rehabilitation facility on Wednesday after his agent says his drinking escalated to a new level.

    The former basketball star has been in headlines recently concerning his friendship with Kim Jung Un and recent trips to North Korea. Rodman, who at one time supported the release of American prisoner Kenneth Bae, recently said that his imprisonment was justified, angering the man’s family.

    “Dennis Rodman could do a lot of good by advocating for Kenneth to Kim Jong-un, but instead he has decided to hurl outrageous accusations at my brother, insinuating that Kenneth has done something sinister,” Bae’s sister, Terri Chung, said in a statement. “He is clearly uninformed about Kenneth’s case, and he is certainly not in any position to pass judgment on Kenneth Bae, who has never any hostile intentions against the DPRK.”

    During a recent visit to North Korea, Rodman gave an interivew to CNN and became visibly upset when speaking with Chris Cuomo about Bae’s imprisonment. Bae, an American citizen, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for “crimes against the state” after he led a tour group there, and although the exact charges are fuzzy, Rodman seemed to have changed his mind about whether or not Bae was guilty. When pressed by Cuomo about his relationship with the North Korean leader and his thoughts on Bae, Rodman began yelling, saying he didn’t care what the interviewer thought.

    “Dennis Rodman came back from North Korea in pretty rough shape emotionally. The pressure that was put on him to be a combination ‘super human’ political figure and ‘fixer’ got the better of him,” his agent, Darren Prince, said Sunday in a statement. “He is embarrassed, saddened and remorseful for the anger and hurt his words have caused.”

    Rodman is reportedly in a New Jersey facility for a 30-day program. He has not issued a statement.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Kenneth Bae Admits Guilt, Asks U.S. To Cooperate

    Kenneth Bae, the American missionary who has been imprisoned in North Korea for “crimes against the state”, attended a press conference on Monday and asked the U.S. government to work with North Korea to aid in his release.

    “I believe that my problem can be solved by close cooperation and agreement between the American government and the government of this country,” he said. “The vice president of United States said that I was detained here without any reason. And even my younger sister recently told the press that I had not committed any crime and I know that the media reported it. I think these comments infuriated the people here enormously. And for this reason, I am in a difficult situation now. As a result, although I was in medical treatment in the hospital for five months until now, it seems I should return to prison. And moreover there is greater difficulty in discussions about my amnesty.”

    Bae was arrested in November of 2012 while leading a tour group and said on Monday that he was indeed guilty of the crimes he’s charged with, but Kim Jin Moo, a North Korea expert at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, says the admission of guilt may have come after prodding from North Korea officials. There has been speculation for months now that Bae’s detention may have come from a desire to get the U.S. to reach out regarding their nuclear weapons program.

    “The reason why North Korea had Kenneth Bae make this statement … is that they want Washington to reach out to them,” Kim said.

    Basketball star Dennis Rodman has made headlines for several months for his friendship with North Korea leader Kim Jung Un and has championed Bae’s cause in the past, but recent comments he made about Bae’s imprisonment being the right decision angered his family.

    “Dennis Rodman could do a lot of good by advocating for Kenneth to Kim Jong-un, but instead he has decided to hurl outrageous accusations at my brother, insinuating that Kenneth has done something sinister,” Bae’s sister, Terri Chung, said in a statement. “He is clearly uninformed about Kenneth’s case, and he is certainly not in any position to pass judgment on Kenneth Bae, who has never any hostile intentions against the DPRK.”

    Bae reportedly suffers from diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems, and back pain but has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. His family is asking for amnesty on his behalf since he is the longest-detained American citizen in North Korea’s history.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Dennis Rodman Returns Home From Visit To North Korea

    Dennis Rodman, the former Chicago Bulls and NBA star who has struck up an unlikely friendship with the leader of North Korea, has returned to the U.S. from his second visit this year to Pyongyang to visit Kim Jong-un. Rodman arrived at the Beijing airport Saturday and coldly answered reporter’s questions about the trip, including several expletives.

    Kim Jong-un and Rodman became friends after Rodman visited the country earlier this year when tensions were rising between the United States and North Korea. They have since eased, and Rodman thinks his friendship with Kim is a showing of the latter man’s hope for a good relationship with the U.S. in the future. Rodman previously called Kim’s welcoming attitude toward him, “an expression of good faith towards the Americans.”

    It had been speculated that Rodman was going to the country for a second time in order to bargain for the release of American missionary Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November for entering the ultra-private country with a tour group; Bae was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years hard labor in a North Korean prison camp.

    In May, Rodman asked Kim on Twitter to “do me a solid” and release Bae; last week, top American official Robert King was scheduled to arrive in North Korea for a meeting with Kim concerning Bae’s release, but that invitation was revoked.

    Upon arrival at the Beijing airport, Rodman quickly snapped at reporter’s queries about his visit, saying, “Guess what? That’s not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae. Ask Obama about that. Ask Hillary Clinton.” He then gave an expletive referring to the two American leaders.

    The former basketball star also said of Kim, “He’s my friend for life. I don’t care what you guys think of him. I don’t give a s*** what people around the world think about him.” Kim and Rodman were said to have taken in dinner and basketball during Rodman’s latest visit, as well as Kim asking Rodman to return home with many good stories of Kim and his wish to “actually change things.” He also gave his new friend a bottle of his own brand of vodka, Bad Boy, and Kim “loved it.”

    This most recent trip for Rodman was sponsored by Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker.

    Image courtesy Steve Lipofsky at basketballphoto.com via Wikimedia Commons.