Rodman and NBA group 'visit N. Korea'

Xinhua news agency, citing a North Korean foreign ministry official, said the group arrived in Pyongyang Tuesday and would spend a week in the country.

The group, which also includes three current members of the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition team, will play matches and attend other events, Xinhua said, adding they would depart the country on March 5.

Leader Kim Jong-Un, who succeeded his late father Kim Jong-Il in December 2011, is reportedly a major fan of NBA basketball, particularly of former Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.

Rodman, 51, played alongside Jordan at the Bulls in the 1990s.

The visit follows a trip to North Korea last month by Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. Schmidt said afterwards that he strongly urged the North to embrace Internet freedom.

The North has come under intense international criticism since carrying out its third underground nuclear test this month, following the launch in December of a long-range rocket.

The country has hinted it could carry out more nuclear and missile tests if the UN Security Council tightens sanctions against it.