Before Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to hold a summit with North Korea, America’s relationship with the Kim regime was practically nonexistent. The so-called Leap Day agreement of 2012 fell apart in dramatic fashion, and the Obama administration all but gave up on diplomacy with Pyongyang.

Into this extreme hostility between the two countries entered one of the most unlikely of intermediaries — former basketball player Dennis Rodman.

The five-time NBA champion struck a curious friendship with Kim Jong Un, even as the young DPRK leader launched rockets, tested nuclear weapons and issued threats aimed at Washington.