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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is stirring up controversy again following a report that
he brought luxury gifts worth thousands of dollars to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
and his wife. It remains to be seen whether he will face
consequences for the act, which is a clear violation of UN sanctions.
Sohn Jung-in reports with more. The controversy surrounding former NBA star Dennis Rodman
flared anew after revelations that Rodman gave North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his
family luxury gifts worth thousands of dollars on his recent trip there.
Dennis Halpin, a scholar at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies,
quoting a diplomatic source, said Rodman was carrying birthday presents for the North Korean
leader and gifts for his family. According to the source, Rodman brought several
hundred dollars' worth of Irish Jameson whiskey, European crystal, an Italian suit for Kim
and a fur coat and an English Mulberry handbag for Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju.
The total cost of the gifts is reportedly well over 10-thousand U.S. dollars.
Halpin noted that providing Pyongyang with any luxury goods is a clear violation of the
sanctions imposed by UN Security Council resolution 1718, which was first imposed after North
Korea's first nuclear test in 2006 and as a response to Kim Jong Il's large-scale purchases
of luxury goods as his people went hungry. The UNSC resolution specifies that "prohibited
luxury goods are banned for transfer to North Korea, including certain kinds of jewelry
and precious stones and luxury automobiles." It remains to be seen whether Rodman will
be punished under an executive order signed by U.S. President Barack Obama that states
that harsh penalties can be imposed on any U.S. citizen violating the resolution.
Rodman could be facing up to 20 years in jail and a fine of one-million U.S. dollars, along
with other civil penalties.
The recent allegations come on the heels of a UN report that found that more than 80 percent
of North Korean households do not have enough food.
Meanwhile, leader Kim Jong-un's recent order to build amusement facilities including a
ski report, a water park and a 3-D cinema comes with a price tag of roughly 300 million
dollars. Sohn Jung-in, Arirang News.