Former NBA star Dennis Rodman held a press conference in Los Angeles today to announce that he is moving to North Korea.
The eccentric sports icon explained that leader Kim Jong-Un has granted him an estate outside the capital Pyongyang and hired him to become the coach of the North Korean national basketball team.
Rodman plans to live in the totalitarian dictatorship part time until at least the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil, for which the North Korea squad hopes to qualify for the first time.
The bizarre career change comes the week after Rodman returned from a surprise trip to North Korea, in which he became the first American to meet Kim Jong-Un and subsequently described him as a "friend".
After his announcement Rodman took questions from the assembled journalists, who were especially keen to inquire about his increasing engagement with a regime known for terrible human rights abuses.
"Yeah, I heard in the media that maybe he's killed thousands in death camps," Rodman explained,"But how do we know that's true? This is the same media that told us that Pol Pot and Stalin killed millions, and everyone knows that was just CIA propaganda right?
| Oh yeah, right. Sure. I think I heard it that way in college... |
"So I don't know anything about that. You can't believe what you hear in the media. He's always been real cool with me, so I'm cool with him, ya know?
"America puts people in jail too. Don't act like we're different just because we give them a trial and all that. That's some nonsense right there. Just some nonsense."
Asked about North Korea's prospects for qualifying for the basketball competition at the 2016 games, Rodman says he's optimistic about their chances.
"They got some good ball players over there, and they just need a little guidance. See that's what I'm all about. That's what the Olympics are all about. Trying to bring peace though sports.
"Maybe if Obama stopped all this CIA drone nonsense and started playing more basketball, we wouldn't be having all these problem |