Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, center, attempts to flee from journalists as he returns from a trip to North Korea at the airport in Beijing, March 1, 2013.Ng Han Guan/The Associated Press
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is planning to bring his brand of basketball diplomacy to North Korea again.
Mr. Rodman says he is returning to visit North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un on Aug. 1, the Miami Herald reported.
"We have no plans really, as far as what we're going to do over there, but we'll just hang and have some fun," he said.
Mr. Rodman made an unlikely whirlwind tour of the Hermit Kingdom in late February, attracting criticism for striking up a friendship with a human rights violator who has recently ratcheted up threats of nuclear war.
While the U.S. government disavowed any connection with Mr. Rodman's trip, he brought back a message, saying Mr. Kim wanted President Barack Obama to pick up the phone.
"He wants Obama to do one thing – call him," Mr. Rodman told ABC last month. "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."
Mr. Rodman was in North Korea working on a documentary about basketball. He and Mr. Kim attended a game and had dinner together.
"[Kim] loves basketball. And I said the same thing. I said, 'Obama loves basketball.' Let's start there," Mr. Rodman said.
Jill Mahoney