Ri Myung-hun (; born 14 September 1967), also known as Michael Ri after his favorite basketball player

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

, is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. At a height of and a weight of , he is believed to be the tallest person in North Korea.

Basketball career

Ri played the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position for the national basketball team of the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. Once proclaimed to be the tallest living human being in the world, he stands tall and once planned to play in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) in the 1990s. According to the Associated Press, he was "the world's tallest basketball player." In anticipation of joining the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, Ri worked out in Canada, where he was scouted by numerous teams. But he was unable to play in the league because of a U.S. ban on trade set forth in a piece of legislation called the

Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 The Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917 (, codified at and et seq.) is a United States federal law, enacted on October 6, 1917, in response to the United States declaration of war on Germany on April 6, 1917. It continues to give the P ...

. The

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

permitted Ri to compete in the country in 2000, on the main condition that none of Ri's salary could be repatriated to North Korea. North Korean officials responded by refusing to let Ri leave. Kim Jong-il told NBA scout Tony Ronzone he would allow Ri to leave North Korea and play professional basketball if the team paid Kim's government in wheat. Ri was permitted to conduct an interview with

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

's Mike Chinoy in which he was quoted as saying, "I'm a big man. I want to test my ability. I am not interested in money or politics. As a sportsman, I just want to try." Eventually, Ri said he was content to remain playing basketball in the "bosom" of

n supreme leader

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was ...

. In a game between mixed teams of players from North Korea and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Ri scored 26 points in 21 minutes, though his "dankyol" (solidarity) side lost 141–138.

Personal life

On 28 December 2011, North Korean television showed footage from the funeral of Kim Jong Il in which an unusually tall person was seen in the crowd. The person was speculated to have been Ri Myung-hun.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ri, Myung-Hun 1967 births Living people North Korean men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1990 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for North Korea Centers (basketball)