Former NBA Player Dennis Rodman Arrives In North Korea

Rodman flew into Pyongyang from Beijing International Airport on Tuesday.

Rodman's trip to North Korea is at least his fifth time to the reclusive nation.

Asked whether he was working on the release of detained Americans, he said, "that is not my objective right now".

He has previously described his trips - including one in 2013 with the Harlem Globetrotters - as "basketball diplomacy" but has been roundly criticised for failing to raise human rights issues or the plight of United States missionary Kenneth Bae, who was detained at the time.

When Rodman returned home, he faced heavy criticism after video surfaced of him singing "Happy Birthday" to leader Kim Jong-un.

A former Virginia man, Kim Dong-chul, was arrested shortly after Warmbier, this time on accusations of espionage, and has been held ever since.

Tillerson says that Warmbier is on his way back to the U.S.to be re-united with his family.

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein). Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman gestures to photographers as he prepares to go through immigration at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

"I'm sorry for what's going on in North Korea, the certain situations", Rodman told CNN in 2014, but he did not elaborate what those "situations" were. "Thanks to my sponsor".

"But one thing we know is that Trump is transactional", one official told the newspaper. He also sung a rendition of "Happy Birthday" to Kim during the visit.

Dennis Rodman has made several trips to the mysterious country as he claims the tyrannical leader is a "good kid" - but what else is he famous for?

U.S. Senator Rob Portman of OH said: "Otto's detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior".

That trip generated a string of negative headlines and an outburst from Rodman during the CNN interview.

"At the direction of the President, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea", Tillerson.

Rodman has toyed with carrying out serious diplomacy in the past.

It is not clear whether Rodman, who once dated Madonna and was married to model and actress Carmen Electra, will be meeting with Kim Jong Un during the trip, or what the exact objective of the visit is.

The unpredictable Trump has offered mixed messages to Kim Jong Un, saying he would be "honored" to meet him under the right conditions and once describing the young leader as "a pretty smart cookie".

He was a cast member of the Celebrity Apprentice, a television reality competition series, Trump hosted before he took office in January.

U.S. tourism to North Korea is legal, but the U.S. State Department strongly advises against it. The US does not have a diplomatic mission in North Korea. "Maybe Dennis is a lot better than what we have", Trump was quoted as saying.

Trump weighed in on Twitter last month that North Korea is "looking for trouble" and urged China to help. Experts said they were low-tech but could be considered a potential security threat. Swedish diplomats representing US interests were denied access to him.

His visit comes as tensions have heightened on the Korean peninsula over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests and its vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

He won five league championships with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls. But he grabbed just as much attention off the court for his piercings, brightly-dyed hair and headline-grabbing antics. Volo has accompanied Rodman on previous trips to the dictatorship. "I love the people of North Korea!"

Four Americans are now known to be detained by the North Korean regime. The game ended 110 to 110. Rodman told Kim he has a "friend for life".

North Korea has touted its drone program in recent years, and South Korean officials believe its military has about 300 drones.