Richardson: On Second Thought, Rodman’s ‘Basketball Diplomacy’ Isn’t Working

RICHARDSON: “Well, I believe he's become an apostle of Kim Jong-un, and that's unfortunate. Initially, I thought his basketball diplomacy, the fact that he's the only American to have talked to Kim Jong-un might have been a channel, for instance, for him to push the release of Kenneth Bae, which I think is the one humanitarian goal that America should have there, but now the fact that Dennis is there with basketball players on the birthday of Kim Jong-un, playing the game, praising Kim Jong-un, calling him his dear friend, and what is the worst was crossing the line by basically implying that Kenneth Bae, as Terri has said, is imprisoned rightfully, which is not the case. Very flimsy charges. He’s been there 14 months. He’s not well. The problem in cases like this is we don't know what the end game of Kim Jong-un is. Is he using Kenneth as a bargaining chip? The U.S. government has tried very hard to get him out. That’s a record. They even sent an envoy there. The North Koreans sent them back. So it's a very perplexing situation caused by our lack of knowledge of Kim Jong-un, except that he's killed his uncle, brutally, he doesn't seem to want to engage China, the United States, South Korea, doesn't want to release Kenneth Bae, so this is why Rodman’s trip elicits so much attention.”