Rodman hugs 'awesome guy' Kim Jong Un, wraps up North Korea visit

KCNA via EPA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hugs former NBA player Dennis Rodman following a basketball game between the Harlem Globetrotters and North Korean University of Physical Education in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Feb. 28.

KCNA via KNS / AP

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, third right, walks by the base of the Tower of the Juche Idea in Pyongyang, North Korea on March 1.

Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" and said his father and grandfather were "great leaders."

Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him. Continue reading.

-- The Associated Press

Follow @NBCNewsPictures

Related content:

Slideshow: North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un

The youngest son of Kim Jong Il succeeded his late father in 2011, becoming the third member of his family to rule the unpredictable and reclusive communist state.

Launch slideshow

Kim Jong Un, Dennis Rodman share a laugh at basketball game in Pyongyang

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, on Thursday. 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.

According to The Associated Press:

Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman met North Korea's Kim Jong Un on Thursday on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, telling the leader "You have a friend for life," a delegation spokesman said.

Rodman and Kim sat side by side at an exhibition game in Pyongyang on Thursday, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the U.S. play in mixed teams, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press. Continue reading.

Slideshow: North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un

Previously on PhotoBlog: