Although North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jon Un threatened the U.S. with recent nuclear tests, he's not as bad as he seems and just wants a "phone call" from President Barack Obama, according to Dennis Rodman.

The former basketball player appeared on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos on March 3 and praised the North Korean leader, who had vowed to destroy the U.S.

Rodman was the highest-profile American to meet Jon Un since the leader inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011. He traveled to the country with the Harlem Globetrotters for a new HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.

"He loves basketball. ... I said Obama loves basketball. Let's start there" as a way to warm up relations between U.S. and North Korea, Rodman said on This Week.

Stephanopoulos asked if Rodman was aware that Jon Un has threatened to destroy the U.S. and of the North Korean regime's terrible human rights.

"I hate the fact that he's doing it but the fact is, you know what, as a human being though, he let his guard down. He did it one day to me. I didn't talk about that. I understand that," Rodman said.

After his whirlwind trip, Rodman said that he developed a friendship with Jon Un: "I love the guy. He's awesome. He's so honest. What I saw in that country ... I saw that people respect him and his family."

"But aren't they forced to?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"Well, I say no, because I think he's going to change something because his is a different view, because I sat with him for two days and ... he wanted Obama to do one thing - [to] call him," Rodman said. "That's right. He told me that. He said 'if you can, Dennis, I don't want to do war. I don't want to do war.' He said that to me."

Rodman said he was aware of North Korea's human rights record, which the State Department has characterized as one of the worst in the world, but said he wasn't apologizing for the country's leader. Stephanopoulos told Rodman that although Obama and Jon Un may have similar love for basketball, the bigger picture of the North Korean leader being a danger toward the U.S. is way more than just a common hobby.

"He's a good guy to me," Rodman said, adding that "as a person to person, he's my friend. I don't condone what he does."