Rodman to make another visit to N.K.

Dennis Rodman. (AP-Yonhap News)

American Hall of Fame basketball player Dennis Rodman plans to visit North Korea again in December, the Associated Press reported Saturday, a trip that may set up a meeting between him and the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who he has described as “friend.”

Rodman disclosed his Christmas-time travel plan to the North in an interview, the U.S. news agency said, adding that he denied the possibility of him playing a politician’s role in promoting the trip, his third since early this year.

Rodman said he will go to North Korea along with several other former NBA players who he said are curious about the reclusive communist country, according to the AP report.

AP quoted Rodman as saying, “Hey, it’s not as bad as you think. And that’s why I’m taking NBA players over there, to show them, so they can come back and talk about it.”

When he first visited North Korea in February, Rodman met with Kim during an exhibition basketball game in Pyongyang, the capital.

Kim is known as a big fan of the U.S. basketball league.

Rodman met with Kim again during his second visit to the North in September. He later said he found him to be a “very good guy.”

Although the media had focused on Rodman’s role in easing tension between Washington and Pyongyang, he has played down the possibility that he would touch on any diplomatic issues during the upcoming trip. (Yonhap News)