(CNN) - NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is traveling to North Korea and is expected to arrive on Tuesday, according to North Korean officials.
The trip comes at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Pyongyang, which has detained four Americans.
A senior U.S. official tells CNN that the State Department was aware Rodman was planning to travel to North Korea, but stressed Rodman was not traveling there in any official capacity for the U.S. government.
CNN reporters saw Rodman at Beijing International Airport where a member of his entourage mouthed the words, "see you Thursday," without offering more details. It's unclear the purpose of Rodman's visit, but the former basketball star is one of the only Americans who's ever met current North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un.
Rodman has visited the country at least four times, with three of the visits taking place between 2013 and 2014.
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