Rodman joins TV crew in N. Korea

PYONGYANG, North Korea – Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is heading to North Korea with VICE media company – tattoos, piercings, bad-boy reputation and all.

The American known as “The Worm” is set to arrive today in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

Rodman, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiting North Korea to shoot footage for a new TV show set to air on HBO in early April, VICE told the Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the group’s departure from Beijing.

It’s the second high-profile American visit this year to North Korea, a country that remains in a state of war with the U.S. It also comes two weeks after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in defiance of U.N. bans against atomic and missile activity.

Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a surprise four-day trip to Pyongyang, where he met with officials and toured computer labs in January, just weeks after North Korea launched a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket.

Washington, Tokyo, Seoul and others consider both the rocket launch and the nuclear test provocative acts that threaten regional security.

North Korea characterizes the satellite launch as a peaceful bid to explore space, but says the nuclear test was meant as a deliberate warning to Washington. Pyongyang says it needs to build nuclear weapons to defend itself against the U.S., and is believed to be trying to build an atomic bomb small enough to mount on a missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.

VICE said the Americans hope to engage in a little “basketball diplomacy” in North Korea by running a basketball camp for children and playing pickup games with locals – and by competing alongside North Korea’s top athletes in a scrimmage they hope will be attended by leader Kim Jong Un.

“At a time when tensions between the two countries are running high, it’s important to keep lines of cultural communication open, no matter how non-traditional those channels may be,” said Shane Smith, the VICE founder who is host of the upcoming TV series. “It’s important to show North Koreans that America is not their enemy, and playing a game we both love is a step in the right direction.”

VICE, a Brooklyn-based media company known for its sometimes irreverent journalism, has made two previous visits to North Korea, coming out with the “VICE Guide to North Korea.” The HBO series, which will air weekly, features documentary-style news reports from around the world.