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.
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."