In an interview on Thursday in Pyongyang with The Associated Press, the only American news agency with a bureau there, Mr. Rodman reiterated that his plans had not changed and that the trip could ease the longstanding estrangement between the United States and North Korea, which never declared a formal end to the Korean War six decades ago. He said the trip was an opportunity for others to see “that this country is actually not as bad as people project it to be in the media.”

Mr. Rodman has said previously that after he conducts the training, he will return in January with an unspecified number of former N.B.A. players for Mr. Kim’s birthday tournament, which Paddy Power officials are calling “the Big Bang in Pyongyang.”

During Mr. Rodman’s first trip to North Korea, photos that quickly spread on the Internet showed him and Mr. Kim laughing together as they took in a basketball game. Mr. Rodman has proclaimed Mr. Kim “a friend for life” and “a very good guy.”

Mr. Scott said Paddy Power was not taking wagers on the tournament, though he declined to discuss the commercial or financial aspects of the event. “We view this as a unique opportunity to put on a quite incredible historic event,” he said. “We view sport as a universal language.”

State Department officials have repeatedly said Mr. Rodman does not represent the United States government and is carrying no messages on its behalf. But privately, diplomats and North Korea specialists say, there is considerable interest in Washington about Mr. Rodman’s trip, partly because so little is known about Mr. Kim, the grandson of Kim Il-sung, North Korea’s revolutionary founder.

The trip and the Jan. 8 tournament also appear to have increased tourist interest in North Korea. Koryo Tours of Beijing, which specializes in trips to North Korea, even offered a deal on its website for a four-day excursion that included tickets to the tournament. “There will never be another trip quite like this one,” the offer states. “Anyone coming along with us will have a story to tell forever more.”

Despite the price of almost $8,900, quadruple the cost of a regular tour of that duration the package sold out within days, said Hannah Barraclough, a Koryo tourism manager. Ms. Barraclough said Americans had not been dissuaded by their government’s warnings that citizens should avoid travel to North Korea because they could be subject to arbitrary arrest.