Former U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman said Tuesday he is seeking to organize a basketball game between North Korea and the westernmost U.S. territory of Guam in Beijing in February, in his latest efforts to ease tensions between Pyongyang and Washington through sports diplomacy.

"I think it's good for everybody in the world to see we can actually get along," Rodman, who tried but could not visit North Korea this time, said at Beijing's international airport before boarding a flight back to the United States.

Rodman said Guam and China are already supportive of the idea and he now only needs to know if his "friend for life" North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will let his country's basketball team to come and play the match.

"I think that's a major step," said Rodman, who met with Kim on three of the five past trips he made to North Korea, adding that sports is a "good way to have communication."

North Korea has threatened to strike Guam, a Pacific island that is home to key U.S. military bases, numerous times this year, as the situation remains tense over Pyongyang's weapons program and following its war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump.

North Korea has even suggested the possibility of exploding a powerful hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.

Rodman, who last traveled to North Korea in June, is in a unique position as the highest-profile figure from the United States to have built personal relationships with both Trump and Kim.

Rodman, who won five National Basketball Association championships with the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls in the 1980 and 1990s, was a cast member for two seasons of Trump's pre-presidency "Celebrity Apprentice" reality TV show.

Asked whether he has any plan to talk to Trump on the North Korean issue, the NBA Hall of Famer said, "It's a matter of time before he comes out and tries to reach out to me."

"I am just going to wait for him to make that move first. He knows what I can do. He knows that the marshal actually likes me and we have a good bond together," Rodman said of Kim, using one of the leader's titles.

Rodman, who visited Guam last week, had sought to fly to Pyongyang for his sixth trip from Beijing, but he could not receive approval from U.S. authorities.

Starting from September, the U.S. government has prohibited Americans from traveling to North Korea, following the death of university student Otto Warmbier after he was imprisoned there for more than year.

Under the ban, Americans are required to obtain a special passport validation to travel to North Korea.

Rodman said he has been told by North Korean officials that he has a "key to our country" and is always welcome to visit "not matter what."

The 56-year-old said he does not want to talk about politics with Kim, but believes that "he is going to do the right thing" even if "he may be having a little bump in the road right now."

Although North Korea has been the subject to international condemnation for its flurry of nuclear and ballistic missile tests in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, Rodman said he is almost certain that Kim does not want to have war and "he really wants to open up."

"Love peace and no war, baby. We need no more war," Rodman said.