Can Dennis Rodman Change North Korea?
Despite the ex-basketball player's eccentricity, he has got something few others have, access to Kim Jong-Un.
Dennis Rodman at Beijing Airport on his way to North Korea
On the face of it, an eccentric American basketball player fraternising with one of the world's most ruthless dictators is an uncomfortable sight.
Dennis Rodman has visited North Korea four times now.
He has been seen enjoying meals with Kim Jong-Un; they have been photographed laughing together at a basketball match; others on their trips have talked of the two men "getting wasted" together.
On Monday, I was passed a photograph showing Rodman riding a horse said to belong to Mr Kim. The photo, I am told, was taken at the reclusive leader's ranch outside the capital, Pyongyang.
It’s all a little uncomfortable because of what Mr Kim and his regime represent.
The stated aim of his government is to destroy the US.
The country is actively pursuing its nuclear weapons programme. It is already a nuclear state, defying numerous UN resolutions. It has proved it is capable of launching ballistic missiles. It wants to marry this technology with its nuclear capability.
That is all hypothetical though: Rodman's "friend" is yet to carry out any of these threats and hasn't yet managed to build his nuclear missile.
It is how Mr Kim treats his people which is much more troubling. Almost universally, it is accepted that North Korea has the world's worst human rights record.
There are an estimated 200,000 political prisoners locked up in labour camps across the country. We know they exist because they are so vast, they can be seen from satellites. There's evidence that they are expanding.
The few who have managed to escape the camps describe the horror inside them: torture, rape, starvation and execution.
Hitler's Auschwitz is said to be a starting point when imagining the conditions in the camps.
But the difference between the World War II concentration camps and Mr Kim's camps is the time they have been in operation.
Auschwitz and the others were, thankfully, closed when the war ended. North Korea's camps have been open and operating for more than 50 years.
Over half a century, under the regime's "three generations of punishment" system, individuals found guilty of a crime have been sent to the labour camps with their entire families. The subsequent two generations of that family are then born in the camp and live their lives locked up inside.
Of course, it's impossible to verify independently all this because much of North Korea is entirely off limits to us all. The government there denies they exist. On the few trips that we journalists do get offered, we see only what our minders allow us to see.
However, the harrowing stories of those who have escaped and defected all tally. They tell the same hideous stories. Their testimony is now forming part of a UN Commission which will publish its findings later this month.
With all that in mind, what can Dennis Rodman and his team possibly do? Possibly more than you might think. Behind his eccentricity, he has pulled off something few others have - access to Mr Kim. While the closeness of their friendship is questionable (it's probably more of an acquaintance), he has been invited back repeatedly.
And where politics and diplomacy has failed over the years, cultural and sporting exchanges are growing year on year.
Tour companies are taking increasing numbers of visitors into the country. In 2008, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra visited the country. There are plans for a Pyongyang Literary Festival and, for the first time ever, foreigners can take part in the Pyongyang Marathon this year.
All this increases the interaction between North Koreans (those who aren't in the labour camps) and the rest of the world.
Little by little, the people inside this country will learn that, contrary to what they have been taught since birth, the outside world is not an impoverished hell populated by the "enemy" whose desire is to destroy them.
Andrei Lankov, a Russian scholar and specialist in Korean studies, believes Rodman's trip should be welcomed.
"People inside North Korea are beginning to understand that they have been deceived, but it will do no harm if their suspicions are confirmed," he wrote onNKNews.org.
"The best way to do this is by exposing North Koreans to the outside world. Knowledge of better alternatives to the current North Korean system will make many North Koreans consider the possibility of real change."
Dr Daniel Pinkston, North East Asia deputy project director at International Crisis Group, agrees.
"The last few years have been difficult for North Korea watchers seeking new policy prescriptions for dealing with Pyongyang. …. Rodman's visit had opened a window of opportunity to bring change to North Korea," he said.
The only man ever to have been born in and escape from a North Korean labour camp wants more from Rodman though.
Shin Dong-hyuk wrote an open letter to Rodman calling on him to engage directly with Mr Kim.
"I am writing to you, Mr Rodman, because, more than anything else, I want Kim Jong-Un to hear the cries of his people. Maybe you could use your friendship and your time together to help him understand that he has the power to close the camps and rebuild the country's economy so everyone can afford to eat."
His letter and his book, Escape from Camp 14, tell his story.
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