Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Breitbart News on Monday that Dennis Rodman’s basketball game in North Korea on Kim Jong-un’s birthday is a “propaganda” win for the regime at a time when the dictator “brutally” solidified his power by executing his uncle.
“The trip comes at the worst possible time – after Kim Jong-un brutally solidified his grip on power – and with no progress towards denuclearization,” Royce told Breitbart News. “This basketball game will do nothing to improve the abysmal human rights conditions in North Korea. It’s a propaganda win for the regime.”
Rodman ignored North Korea’s brutal human rights abuses and Kim’s execution of his uncle to travel with a group of ex-NBA players, many of whom have led nightmare lives after exiting the league, to North Korea in December, where he trained a group of North Koreans who would face the former NBA players in an exhibition game.