Former NBA star Dennis Rodman led North Koreans inside an auditorium to sing "Happy Birthday" to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, according to MSN News.
Rodman's singing spree came after the basketball star sparked controversy when he appeared to suggest that Korean-American Kenneth Bae was responsible for his captivity in the hermit kingdom.
"It started out as surreal, then people joined in and it sort of faded a bit, but it seemed pretty heartfelt from Rodman's side," Simon Cockerell, a tour guide who watched the game in Pyongyang, said of Rodman's birthday singing.
"It was unexpected, and probably unplanned. Kim Jong Un appeared to smile, but he didn't appear to expect it." Cockerell added.
Cockerell owns Koryo Tours, a company that took a group of tourists to the game in Pyong Yang. He said the audience stood and cheered for the Korean leader for six minutes when Kim appeared with his wife.
It was reported that Rodman brought with him to North Korea a team of fellow U.S. basketball star to play an exhibition match against the country's national basketball team. The game marked the birthday celebration of Kim. It is also believed that last Wednesday was Kim's birthday although nothing has been confirmed.
"Dennis Rodman gave a charmingly shambolic speech where he thanked Kim Jong Un and his wife for showing up, along with the other players for being brave enough to come with him and join in his 'engagement effort'," said Cockerell who described Rodman's gesture.
It was Rodman's fourth trip to North Korea and arrived weeks after the execution of Jang Song Thaek, Kim's uncle and the country's second most powerful man before getting executed on accounts of treason.
Rodman, who is known for his quirks inside and outside the basketball court, said he will not interfere in North Korea's politics. However, he raised an outcry in the U.S. during a television interview that he was responsible for Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae's captivity in North Korea.
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