Dennis Rodman in North Korea: Has he finally gone too far?
| Washington
Is Dennis Rodman doing his best to destroy the chance of any good coming from his visit to North Korea? We ask that because his behavior in Pyongyang seems almost intended to wreck his credibility back home.
First, he implied that Kenneth Bae may be guilty of something. Mr. Bae is an American citizen now imprisoned in North Korea on vague charges, and when asked Monday by a CNN interviewer whether he鈥檇 raise Bae鈥檚 status with North Korean leaders, Mr. Rodman just ranted.
鈥淵ou know what he did? In this country?鈥� Rodman shouted back to CNN鈥檚 Chris Cuomo.
Then at Wednesday鈥檚 between a team of former NBA players and North Korea鈥檚 national team Rodman sang 鈥淗appy Birthday鈥� to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It came across as kind of weird, as officials began rhythmic applause while Rodman crooned.
Overall Rodman鈥檚 evident anger and defensiveness over his trip is alienating even analysts who weigh both the positive and negative that could come from sports diplomacy between adversaries.
鈥淥K, Dennis Rodman in North Korea isn鈥檛 funny anymore,鈥� tweeted Washington Post .
Also, the Rodman-led US team lost to the North Koreans in the first half. (They mixed teams for the second half.) Maybe that shouldn鈥檛 be surprising, given that the scattering of NBA stars in the US squad were all long retired, and the North Koreans looked young and fit.
Look, Tuesday we defended the Rodman trip as a possible good thing. It is not as if there is any momentum in US-North Korean relations that Rodman could undo. Plus, the presence of a once-famous American athlete next to Kim Jong-un won鈥檛 further boost the latter鈥檚 status at home. The Pyongyang regime鈥檚 grip on power seems pretty firm.
If the Rodman trip could open the mind of even one member of the North Korean elite just a little bit, wouldn鈥檛 that be positive? As notes Wednesday, the US-China ping-pong diplomacy of the 1970s owed much to the courage of one Chinese table tennis player, Zhuang Zedong, who talked to American counterparts when it was forbidden.
Also, does anyone remember that the New York Philharmonic visited North Korea in 2008, and that said the US was in no position to criticize Pyongyang鈥檚 human rights record, given its own abuses? Just asking.
But we recognize that this is a subject open to lots of debate, and right now we are ready to throw in the towel. Rodman is just too fraught. Whatever his impact on the North Koreans, he鈥檚 having a very negative impact back in the US. That could only make it harder to muster a domestic consensus for any agreement aimed at scaling back Pyongyang鈥檚 nuclear ambitions.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 an idiot,鈥� Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona said of Rodman yesterday on 鈥淧iers Morgan Live.鈥�
White House spokesman Jay Carney was more diplomatic.
鈥淪ports exchanges can be valuable, sports diplomacy can be valuable, and it鈥檚 something that we pursue in many places around the world,鈥� said Carney at Tuesday鈥檚 press briefing.
But of Rodman鈥檚 contentious words about Kenneth Bae, Carney added that 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to dignify that outburst with a response.鈥�
