Story highlights Rodman is on a visit to North Korea that's expected to last four nights

He personally knows Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump

(CNN) Dennis Rodman may not have been sent to North Korea by US President Donald Trump, but that's not stopping the former basketball star from promoting his former reality TV co-star.

Rodman, who landed in Pyongyang Tuesday, was photographed presenting North Korean Sports Minister Kim Il Guk with a copy of Trump's book, "Trump: The Art of the Deal."

The NBA Hall of Famer is perhaps the only person in the world who has personal relationships with both the US President -- he participated on Trump's pre-presidency reality TV show, "The Celebrity Apprentice" -- and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

Rodman has called Kim a "friend for life" and previously said that his relationship with the young leader -- who's been accused of executing hundreds of people to cement his authority -- is primarily about basketball, not politics.

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The five-time NBA champion has traveled to North Korea for informal "basketball diplomacy" a handful of times in the past and told CNN earlier this week at the airport in Beijing he hoped to do "something that's pretty positive" before he boarded a plane bound for the reclusive state.

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