North Korea expecting visit from former NBAer Dennis Rodman

FILE – In this Jan. 8, 2014, file photo, former NBA star Dennis Rodman sings Happy Birthday to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, before an exhibition basketball game at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry official who spoke to the AP in Pyongyang confirmed Rodman was expected to arrive Tuesday, June 13, 2017, but could not provide details. He’s made several visits to the country, but has been roundly criticized for insensitive comments and for regaling leader Kim Jong Un with “Happy Birthday” in 2014. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon, File)

BEIJING (AP) — North Korea is expecting another visit by former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman.

He’s made several visits to the country, but has been roundly criticized for insensitive comments and for regaling leader Kim Jong Un with “Happy Birthday” in 2014. On the same trip, he suggested an American missionary was at fault for his own imprisonment in North Korea, remarks for which he later apologized.

A foreign ministry official who spoke to the AP in Pyongyang confirmed Rodman was expected to arrive Tuesday but could not provide details. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the ministry had not issued a formal statement.

It would be Rodman’s first visit to the country since President Donald Trump took office.