Former NBA star Dennis Rodman revealed the previously unknown name of Kim Jong Un’s daughter – Ju-ae – to reporters from the British Guardian newspaper on Sunday.

Rodman told the newspaper that he had spent a “relaxing time” by the sea with Kim Jong Un’s family during his recent trip to North Korea, and described the North Korean leader as a “good dad”.

“We shared many meals and drinks where we discussed our plans to play a historic friendship basketball game between North Korea and the U.S. as well as ways to develop their basketball team,” he said, “I held their baby Ju-ae and spoke with Ms Ri [Sol-Ju, Kim’s wife] as well. He’s a good dad and has a beautiful family. Kim told me, ‘I’ll see you in December.'”

The news that Kim Jong Un has a baby daughter was also broken by Dennis Rodman in a March interview with British tabloid The Sun, but the girl’s name has not been revealed until today.

South Korean intelligence services “confirmed” that Ri Sol Ju had a baby in late 2012, but Rodman’s announcement was the first confirmation from an independent source.

The closest North Korean media came to announcing Ri Sol Ju’s pregnancy came in September last year, when photos hinted to some analysts that she may have been pregnant.

Both South Korean media and government had been talking about rumors of Kim baby for months, going as far to analyze Ri Sol Ju’s hairstyle as potential evidence of childbirth.

At the time Michael Madden, author of NK Leadership Watch, speculated that the birth was not announced by the North Korean state media because of the baby’s gender.

“If it was a boy, [the North Koreans] would have made an announcement,” he said. A boy would be seen as a more viable heir to the North Korean “throne” in the event of a fourth generation leadership transition.

Dennis Rodman last week returned to North Korea for his second visit this year as part of his “basketball diplomacy”, hoping to organize another North Korean-American game.

When asked by reporters on Sunday why he had not lobbied for Bae’s release, he told reporters “that’s not my job… Ask Obama about that. Ask Hillary Clinton,” and “I don’t give a shit.”

He also defended Kim Jong Un from reporters asking about North Korea’s human rights record, saying, “He is my friend for life. I don’t care what you guys think about him. I don’t give a shit about what people around the world think about him.”

Speculation abounded last week that Rodman would return from North Korea with imprisoned Korean-American evangelical missionary Kenneth Bae, who is is serving a 15 year term of hard labor for “hostile acts” against the country.

Rodman had told Huffpost Live before he left last Thursday that “I will definitely ask for Kenneth Bae’s release,” but his personal manager A.J. Bright told NK News that the focus of the trip would be sports diplomacy and had “no comment” when asked about the issue of Kenneth Bae being on any agenda.

Picture: Korea Central News Agency