North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (left) and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watched North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. Full story here. Dennis Rodman wants a Nobel Peace Prize

Dennis Rodman has his eye on the Nobel Peace Prize. The basketball star, who struck up a friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this year, wants credit for his diplomatic efforts, he told Sports Illustrated:

“My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries,” Rodman says. “Why it’s been left to me to smooth things over, I don’t know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it’s the black guy’s [Obama's] job. But I’ll tell you this: If I don’t finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something’s seriously wrong.”

(PHOTOS: Dennis Rodman, Kim Jong Un in North Korea)

Rodman said he’s making a return trip to North Korea next month. His plan:“I’m just gonna chill, play some basketball and maybe go on vacation with Kim and his family." Plus, he's hoping to broker the release of imprisoned American citizen Kenneth Bae while there.