Dennis Rodman in North Korea: Looking Back at His Strange Friendship with Kim Jong Un

Dennis Rodman is in North Korea again to meet supreme leader Kim Jong Un and if his previous visits are anything to go by, the trip promises to be odd at the very least.

Rodman, the 56-year-old five-time NBA champion, has been to North Korea on five previous occasions but not since January 2014.

"My purpose is to actually see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea, so that's the main thing," Rodman said on Tuesday in quotes reported by the BBC.

Here's how those previous trips played out.

Visit One: March 2013

Rodman's first visit to North Korea set a terrifically zany precedent. A tour of the country with the Harlem Globetrotters included a basketball exhibition in Pyongyang during which Rodman called Kim a "friend for life." The game, also featuring North Korean players, ended 110-all before Kim was presented with a Globetrotters jersey. The full, out-of-body experience is now available to watch on YouTube.

Visit Two: September 2013

Rodman returned to North Korea sponsored by Paddy Power, the Irish betting company. "I've come out here to see my friend [Kim]," he said at the time in quotes reported by the New York Times. "I want to talk about basketball." Rodman had tweeted in May 2013 that he wanted Kim to "cut Kenneth Bae loose," referring to the South Korean-born U.S. citizen imprisoned with 15 years' hard labor at the time. Bae, returned home in November 2014, later thanked Rodman as the "catalyst" for his release. "He has to do his job," Rodman said of Kim in a press conference defending his visit. "He's a very good guy."

Visit Three: December 2013

Rodman returned to North Korea for the third time in the space of a year. His visit, to hold trials for a basketball exhibition game on Kim's birthday, came days after the execution of the supreme leader's uncle Jang Song-thaek. Amid criticism, Paddy Power withdrew its sponsorship of Rodman's trips.

Visit Four: January 2014

Before the game between a team of retired American basketball professionals and North Koreans, Rodman huskily sang Happy Birthday to Kim. Later on the trip he was forced to apologize for a rant on CNN in which he appeared to suggest that Bae deserved his imprisonment.