Retired basketball player Dennis Rodman flew to North Korea Tuesday for his second visit this year with “my friend Kim,” as he described North Korea’s 29-year-old leader Kim Jong-un.
Rodman’s rare opportunity to speak to the dictator will not be used to further the case of jailed Korean-American Kenneth Bae, however.
Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor earlier this year after North Korea convicted him of using his tourism business to plot sedition, reports the BBC.
Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for human rights, was set to visit last week to appeal for Bae’s release on humanitarian grounds when his invitation was revoked.
Rodman said repeatedly before leaving for North Korea, “I’m not a diplomat,” according to USA Today. He did say, however, he will “try to bridge a gap with Americans and North Korea.”
Kim is a basketball fan and first met Rodman when Rodman visited North Korea in February with the Harlem Globetrotters.
