Former US basketball star Dennis Rodman is flying to North Korea to help train the national team and renew his friendship with the North's young leader Kim Jong Un.
Rodman’s latest round of basketball diplomacy goes ahead despite the recent execution of Mr Kim’s uncle in a dramatic political purge.
He told reporters at Beijing's airport he expected to meet Mr Kim, whom he has called a friend and a "very good guy"
Rodman also said he intended to arrange a international tournament on January 8th in Pyongyang to mark the leader’s birthday.
His visit comes less than a week after North Korea announced the execution of Jang Song Thaek in its most serious political upheaval in decades.
The flamboyant Rodman is the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011.
He travelled to the secretive communist state for the first time in February.