Dennis Rodman is heading back to North Korea, according to CNN, which reports that the NBA Hall of Famer is expected to arrive in Pyongyang on Tuesday.

CNN reportedly spotted Rodman at Beijing International Airport, although he declined to speak to the media outlet which adds that "it's unclear what the purpose of Rodman's visit to the secretive country could be, but the eccentric former basketball player - and a former contestant on Donald Trump's pre-presidency reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice" - is one of the only Americans to have met current North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un."

North Korean officials confirmed to CNN that Rodman is expected to arrive in Pyongyang Tuesday without giving further details. Curiously, a senior US official said the State Department was aware Rodman was planning to travel to North Korea, but stressed he is not there in any official capacity.

Rodman previously visited North Korea at least four times, with three of the visits taking place between 2013 and 2014.

His last visit came in January 2014, when Rodman and a group of other former NBA players took part in an exhibition basketball game. It was supposedly a birthday gift for Kim who's said to be a big basketball fan. Rodman was filmed leading a sing-along of "Happy Birthday" to the North Korean leader, a man he calls a friend and a "very good guy," but is widely seen as a brutal dictator who once lauded the execution of his own uncle.

Rodman has described his series of trips to North Korea as a "basketball diplomacy" project and defended the trip for Kim's birthday in a CNN interview saying it was a "great idea for the world."

Rodman's visit to Pyongyang would be the first under Trump with whom he has a personal relationship. Before entering politics, Trump praised one of Rodman's 2013 trips to North Korea in an interview with Fox News. Rodman, who appeared on Trump's reality TV show in 2009 and again in 2013, went on to endorse Trump's candidacy in 2015.

While it is unclear if Trump sanctioned the latest round of "basketball diplomacy", it is worth a reminder that in 2014, Trump angrily burst out on Twitter that "Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on Apprentice!"

Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on Apprentice! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2014

Then again, if Rodman manages to persuade Kim to end his nuclear program - something no other US politicians has achieved - it will mark quite a dramatic departure in style and substance to US foreign policy.