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ASSOCIATED PRESS
‘Japanese wrestler-turned-parliamentarian Kanji “Antonio” Inoki, right, shakes hands with Ri Su Yong, North Korea’s vice chairman of Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea prior to their meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea.
PYONGYANG, North Korea >> Japanese politician and pro-wrestling icon Kanji Inoki has met a close confidant of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his latest visit to Pyongyang, a day after North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test in defiance of heavy international sanctions.
Inoki met on Saturday with Ri Su Yong, former North Korean foreign minister and current head of the international department of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party. Details from the meeting were not immediately announced.
Inoki, 73, is a pro wrestler-turned-lawmaker, perhaps best known in the United States for his exhibition bout with the late Muhammad Ali in the 1970s.
He has been a regular visitor to North Korea for years and has supported the idea of promoting exchanges with the isolated nation through sports.
In 1995, Inoki fought American Ric Flair in what was called the “Collision in Korea,” a two-day event held in Pyongyang’s huge May Day Stadium that drew a reported 380,000 spectators and guest attendees including Ali.
Inoki organized another wrestling event in Pyongyang in 2014, where about 20 mixed martial artists took part in a series of exhibition matches.
Seems sports former figures have easier access into N K than others? A former pro basket ball player with a big mouth actually met the boss man?