Former NBA star Dennis Rodman will apparently return to North Korea on August first and attempt to secure the release of detained American citizen Kenneth Bae.

Rodman recently told a U.S.-based celebrity news site that he would be returning to the communist state and pledged he would attempt to free Bae.

Responding to reporters' questions if the U.S. government would support such a mission, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the U.S. has no comment on private American travel, but it is urging North Korean authorities to grant Bae amnesty and immediately release him.

Kenneth Bae is imprisoned in North Korea where he was recently sentenced to 15 years of hard labor on charges of hostile acts against North Korea.