Rodman asks Kim Jong Un to release detainee

SEOUL, South Korea -- Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is tapping his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to ask for the release of a Korean-American man sentenced to 15 years hard labor.

"I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him, 'Kim', to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose," Rodman said on Twitter. He called the tweet a response to a Seattle Times editorial that dared him to ask Kim for the release if the two are really buddies.

Rodman visited North Korea in February and sat with Kim to watch a basketball game

Bae, 44, of Washington state, was arrested in North Korea in November. The North's Supreme Court sentenced him last week for "hostile acts" against the state. -- AP