What do you think of Dennis Rodman's bizarre trips to North Korea to visit Jim Jong-un? Do you think he can bring about positive change?

I thought this was a fascinating open letter to Rodman, published by Former North Korean Prisoner and Human Rights Activist, Shin Jun-Huyk:

"I want to tell you about myself. I was born in 1982 in Camp 14, a political prison in the mountains of North Korea.

My crime was to be born as the son of a man whose brother fled to South Korea in the 1950s...


... Until I escaped in 2005, I was one of those slaves. My body is covered with scars from torture I endured in the camp.

I happen to be about the same age as your friend Kim Jong Un. But if you ask him about me, he is likely to refer to me as “human scum.”

Mr. Rodman, I cannot presume to tell you to cancel your trip to North Korea. It is your right as an American to travel wherever you wish and to say whatever you want.

But as you have a fun time with the dictator, please try to think about what he and his family have done and continue to do. Just last week, Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of his uncle.

No dictatorship lasts forever. Freedom will come to North Korea someday. When it does, my wish is that you will have, in some way, helped bring about change."

Full text can be found here:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/dennis-rodman-receives-chilling-open-letter-from-a-ex-north-korean-prisoner/

I read his book. You won't believe such a hellish place exists on Earth.