Not All Who Wonder Are Lost

shortformblog:

latimes:

It’s still hard to believe this happened: But Dennis Rodman visited North Korea this week, vowing his eternal friendship with the country’s dictator Kim Jong-Un.

In case you missed it, Rodman was brought along as party of a VICE documentary on basketball diplomacy, and spoke at length with Jong-Un, who is reportedly a massive basketball fan.

Follow the entire bizarre series of events here.

Photos: AFP / KCNA, Associated Press /Kyodo News

One wonders to what extent Rodman is aware of the the state of affairs for non-basketball celebrities in North Korea, which have by all accounts persisted since the transition to the rule of Kim Jong-un — North Korea, of course, boasts what is thought to be the world’s largest network of active concentration camps, to say nothing of the myriad opressions the general populace labors under. This is not to say Rodman is assuredly ignorant of the nature of the North Korean government, nor that expressions of gratitude and respect couldn’t be valuable from a diplomatic perspective. But if you’re claiming a “friend for life,” in earnest, who’s propping up his economy with forced labor? Kind of a hard sell.