Remember when North Korea and the USA had a chance for peace?
What happened?
An event often not recognized and way too often dismissed: In 2013 Dennis Rodman traveled to North Korea with Vice (news outlet) and the Harlem Globe Trotters. Their mission was 'Basketball Diplomacy', even though Vice had a little bit of an own agenda. They had been in North Korea before and were much more focused on the potential suppression of the people and the fakeness of the events they witnessed.
(source: https://www.vice.com/de/topic/basketball)
Kim Jong Un has been known to a big fan of basketball, a strange taste for a leader of a country that is supposed to hate the American culture.
In the first half of the documentary nothing special is happening, only thing worth pointing out is the attitude of the Harlem Globetrotters. These guys ooze charisma and brought a positive vibe everywhere they went.
An impactful speech
Not much is happening in the first half of the documentary. That's until there is a big exhibition match with mixed teams of North Korean natives and Globetrotters. Kim Jong Un and Dennis Rodman are sitting side by side in the crowd and seem well entertained by the event. After the game is over, Rodman surprisingly decided to give a small speech: “I am sorry my country and your country are not on good terms...” turns around to face Kim Jong-un “.. Sir, thank you (for the warm welcome), you have a friend for live!”
Jong-un was visibly touched to hear those kind words from Rodman. This led him to invite Vice, the Globetrotters and Dennis Rodman to a celebratory dinner. Alcohol broke the ice and soon it was an all out party. Vice tweeted “Um... so Kim Jong Un just got the #VICEonHBO crew wasted... no really, that happened”. It was truly an historic moment. The party officials told Rodman and Vice they would hope this is a first step into reducing the “psychological barrier” between the people of the US and NK. Kim Jong-un gave an interview stating that he wishes for a better understanding of the two nations and that further sport exchanges might be a road to do that. The news of Rodmans visit overshadowed the headlines about the 3rd nuclear test in local television. Reports about their rocket program were dominating North Korean Media before.
(Screenshot taken from Vice season 1 episode 10, the man on the sax is part of the vice crew)
What went wrong?
So what happened? Why does it feel like there is more tension than ever before between the USA and North Korea, right now? The answer is simple: the USA does not want a peaceful relation to North Korea. The media treated Rodman like a traitor, here is his first interview after he came back.
Interesting how the FBI guy states: “There is nobody at the CIA that can tell you more, personally, about Kim Jong-un” Despite that the interviewer is pretty much shaming the former NBA star for supporting an evil psychopath. I won't go into more detail about the witch hunt for Rodman that unfolded after this. If you want to read more about the tactics of the US media when it comes to slander, I can point you to this @dwinblood article that inspired me to talk about the 4 year old topic of Rodman visiting NK.
In my research I saw a glimpse of hope, when I stumbled across a German report stating that the North Korean society is rapidly modernizing (ie education about IT, every 2nd person has a cellphone). Maybe this will lead to a better understanding between the North Korean people and the rest of the world.
Good post. North Korea has asked several times for the US to stop the yearly invasion drills, and has said numerous times that it is interested in re-unification. But of course we deflect with the ridiculous line of: "we don't negotiate with dictators" As if the US has a great human rights track record, and as if the US government is free of corruption. We also "don't negotiate with terrorist", even though we support and create terrorist groups.
jup, Im not saying Kim Jong-un is an angel, but the americans on their high horse when it comes civil rights. What about Guantanamo Bay? Oh these "terrorists" are no humans to you? Nice interpretation of human rights.
More than Guantanamo Bay, the US has a dark history of genocide, slavery, oppression, experimentation, corrupt "justice" system, nuking Japan, sponsoring terrorism, false flag attacks... etc. America should not be allowed to criticize any other country.
i hope NK and USA will be a friend :(
same!
By Kim publicly appealing for re-unification and peace, he is seen by his people as a hero when the US refuses to negotiate. He then tells his people North Korea needs nukes to protect them from obvious US aggression. They depend on him for their safety. He threatens to destroy America. Americans get scarred and want reassurance that we can destroy North Korea first. The US continues to have a boogeyman to justify military speeding and expanding its bases world wide.
Yeah, I'm starting to think Kim is being controlled by the US.
That might actually be the case. I still believe that they are rather using him than actually controlling him. But I would not be suprised if Kim got CIA training like so many others did (Bin Laden, Saddam).
Interesting post @thatgermandude. North Korea's increasing nuclear threat is going to pose a challenge for Trump. The latest news i saw was that they now claim they can strike Hawaii and Alaska.
yeah, I don't think the US will just watch while a rocket is flying half-way across the globe. ;) It is a very serious threat for South Korea and Japan, though.