When Dennis Rodman visits dictator Kim Jong Un in North Korea next week,
he’ll probably be hoping his “friend for life” has not seen his latest
commercial.
The Wonderful Pistachios ad features the former NBA star
sitting at a table with a Kim look-a-like. Lifting a nut from a bowl,
Rodman says: "The secret to world peace ... is pistachios." Kim then
presses a red button and Rodman explodes, leaving just the remnants of
the nut on his seat at which point Kim smiles and claps.
The quirky
commercial was released in September, just after Rodman's most recent
visit to North Korea, and before the country's latest purges, but could
easily be seen as an unintended parody of Kim's way of dealing with
political opponents.
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The few North
Koreans who have watched the commercial are not amused about the
depiction of their leader, a regular visitor to the country told NBC
News.
"They just don't think its funny," said the source, who asked not to be identified amid fear of reprisals.
Experts believe a power struggle may be under way in Pyongyang.
This
week saw the very public removal from power of Kim's uncle and the
North's number two leader, Jang Song-Thaek - who was dragged from his
chair during a meeting in Pyongyang.
Jang was quickly airbrushed from
official pictures and edited out of a documentary broadcast on state
television (though not replaced with a pistachio).
Dennis Rodman
just returned from his second trip to North Korea and says he plans to
go again. The former baller says he'll coach the country's basketball
team in the Olympics. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Two of Jang's
aides were reportedly killed in a spate of public executions and Kim has
already removed several senior aging generals.
After his last visit
to Pyongyang, Rodman angrily rounded on reporters who questioned his
relationship with the North Korean leader, who succeeded his late father
Kim Jong Il in 2011.
"He's my friend for life,” he said. “I don't
care what you guys think," though even the former basketball star might
now concede that his friend - "an awesome guy" - is displaying a
dangerously erratic and ruthless streak.
Rodman is returning to the
country to prepare for a series of exhibition basketball games,
culminating in a showdown against the North Korean national team to mark
Kim's birthday on Jan. 8 (when he'll be 30 or possibly 31 years old).
Rodman says about a dozen former NBA stars will be travelling to
Pyongyang to take part.
They may hope for a speedier return than
85-year-old Merrill Newman, who was detained for more than a month in
North Korea after being accused of "hostile acts." The Korean War
veteran was freed on Saturday after being coerced into a "confession"
and apology.
Slideshow: North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un
The
youngest son of Kim Jong Il succeeded his late father in 2011, becoming
the third member of his family to rule the unpredictable and reclusive
communist state.
Launch slideshow
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Though
Rodman has boasted of his "cordial" conversations with the young Kim,
he may prefer this time to steer clear of the subject of Uncle Jang, who
was dismissed, in part, for allegedly leading what the North's official
news agency described as a "dissolute and depraved life."
Rodman depicts Kim as a regular, fun-loving sort of guy. But he presides over a pathologically paranoid regime.
One
story that regularly does the diplomatic rounds in Pyongyang is about
the opening of the Australian Embassy some years ago. The Australians
celebrated by throwing a toga party. There weren't many diplomats in the
city back then, and very few cars, so the sight of the (tiny) foreign
community criss-crossing the place wrapped in white sheets, generated
massive suspicion.
The authorities could never quite figure out what
was happening, but there was one thing about which they were certain -
it was a conspiracy. The Embassy was promptly closed.
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