Rodman asks Kim to ‘do me a solid’ and free American

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is tapping his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to ask for the release of a Korean-American man sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in the North.

“I’m calling on the supreme leader of North Korea, or as I call him, Kim, to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose,” Rodman said on Twitter. He called the tweet a direct response to a Seattle Times editorial that dared him to ask Kim for the release if the two are really buddies.

Rodman visited North Korea in February and sat next to Kim as they watched an exhibition basketball game. His trip came at a time of high tension between Pyongyang and Washington and was not endorsed by the US State Department.