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Dennis Rodman Tells North Korea's Kim Jong Un 'You've Got A Friend For Life' At Pyongyang Basketball Game (PICTURES)

BFFs Forever: Dennis Rodman And Kim Jong Un Hang Out
Sara C Nelson
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It's official: Dennis Rodman and North Korea's Kim Jong Un are BFF.

The unlikely twosome were pictured cosying up at a basketball game in Pyongyang on Thursday, and were having a right old chinwag by the looks of things.

Ex-NBA star Rodman is in the communist state to shoot a documentary about North Korea for America's HBO. He was accompanied by three players from the professional Harlem Globetrotters exhibition team and a television crew from New York-based VICE media.

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BFF: Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un at a basketball game in Pyongyang

Rodman later cemented relations with his new buddy by addressing Kim in front of a crowd of thousands, telling him: "You have a friend for life," The Associated Press said.

The Harlem Globetrotters combined with a team players from the Hwaebul basketball team of Korean University of Physical Education, drawing 110-110.

According to the Korean Central News Agency of DPRK, Rodman commented he was "very pleased to mix with Pyongyang citizens, adding that it is regrettable that the relations between the US and DPRK are not good, but Korean people are his friends."

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Pyongyang sparked alarm around the world by testing a nuclear bomb a fortnight ago. The reclusive state confirmed it has successfully conducted a third underground nuclear test, defying UN orders to stop building atomic weapons.

The provocative act has been interpreted as a clear warning to the United States.

Kim was presented with a Harlem Globetrotters basketball team uniform as a gift from his guests, before hosting a dinner which "proceeded in an amicable atmosphere."

Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. (AP Photo/VICE Media, Jason Mojica) (credit:AP)
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. (AP Photo/VICE Media, Jason Mojica) (credit:AP)
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VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy looks up into the crowd where North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with Duffy, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. (AP Photo/VICE Media, Jason Mojica) (credit:AP)
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, right, and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, seen at back, prepare to check in at the departure hall of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Rodman, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiting North Korea to shoot footage for a new TV show set to air on HBO in early April, VICE told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the group's departure from Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (credit:AP)
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, center, pushes his luggage pass through a group of Chinese security officers as he makes his way to the check in counter at the departure hall of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Rodman, and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiting North Korea to shoot footage for a new TV show set to air on HBO in early April, VICE told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the group's departure from Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (credit:AP)
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman speaks at the departure hall of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Rodman, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiting North Korea to shoot footage for a new TV show set to air on HBO in early April, VICE told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the group's departure from Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (credit:AP)
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TV crews surround Dennis Rodman, a former NBA star at the departure hall of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Flamboyant former NBA star Rodman is heading to North Korea with VICE media company tattoos, piercings, bad-boy reputation and all. The American known as "The Worm" is set to arrive Tuesday in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (credit:AP)
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Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman, right, scratches his face upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. The American known as "The Worm" arrived in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is surrounded by journalists upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. The American known as "The Worm" arrived in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman, right, scratches his face upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. The American known as "The Worm" arrived in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Bull Bullard, left, a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, is mobbed by journalists upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman known as "The Worm" arrived with three members of the basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman walks at the Pyongyang Airport before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, center right, signs his autograph for a woman at the Pyongyang Airport before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Former NBA star Dennis Rodman speaks to the media at the Pyongyang Airport before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Rodman hung out with North Korea's Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.(AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman, fifth from right, poses with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, in red jerseys, and a production crew for the media upon arrival at Pyongyang Airport, North Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Rodman known as "The Worm" arrived in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon) (credit:AP)
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Members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team gesture as they prepare to check in with former NBA star Dennis Rodman, not in the photo, at the departure hall of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Dennis Rodman, and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiting North Korea to shoot footage for a new TV show set to air on HBO in early April, VICE told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the group's departure from Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (credit:AP)
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In this image released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed by the Korea News Service, former NBA star Dennis Rodman, second right in front row, visits a dolphin aquarium in Pyongyang in North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" and said his father and grandfather were "great leaders." (AP Photo/KCNA via KNS) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION (credit:AP)
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