Basketball legend Rodman parties with North Korea's Kim

Ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman has hung out with Kim Jong Un during an improbable journey to North Korea, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.

“You have a friend for life,” the former NBA player told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the United States face off in mixed teams, according to a New York-based media company.

Rodman arrived in the capital Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team and a production crew from the VICE media firm to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.

The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a “hostile” policy toward the North.

Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said.

Dressed in a blue Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on the table before him during the game at the Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman.

Rodman, the man who once turned up in a wedding dress to promote his autobiography, wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had his nose rings and other piercings.

Kim and Rodman chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, the VICE crew said.

The surprise visit by the flamboyant Hall of Famer known as “The Worm” makes him an unlikely ambassador at a time when state media says North Koreans are girding for battle with the US. Just last week, Kim guided troops in military exercises.

North Korea and the US fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes never signed a peace treaty and do not have diplomatic relations.

Before Thursday’s game, Rodman went up to Kim’s perch to offer his greetings.

“Warmly welcoming him, Kim Jong Un let him sit next to him,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

The Americans presented Kim with a Harlem Globetrotters kit. For the half-time entertainment, taekwondo athletes showed off some moves and a “women’s brass band presented glamorous rhythmic formations”, KCNA said.

The game ended in a 110-110 tie, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans.

After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans, telling him: “You have a friend for life.”

At a lavish dinner later, the self-styled Supreme Leader plied the group with food and drink and round after round of toasts were made.

Kim said he hoped sports exchange would promote “mutual understanding between the people of the two countries,” KCNA said.

Rodman’s trip is the second attention-grabbing US visit this year to North Korea. Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt made a four-day trip in January to Pyongyang, but did not meet the North Korean leader.

In Washington, the State Department refused to comment on Rodman’s visit or his meeting with Kim.

“Private, individual Americans are welcome to take actions they see fit,” spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

He said the Obama administration was not in touch with Rodman and making no effort to contact him.