Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman on Tuesday said he will not seek to discuss the case of four U.S. citizens detained in North Korea with the DPRK leadership, speaking to reporters at Beijing Airport before a flight to Pyongyang.

Rodman reportedly said that negotiating the release of the Americans was “not my purpose right now”, instead saying he was trying to “open a door.”

In comments carried by international media and in his first public statement on the visit, he did, however, say he would try to “make something happen” regarding the four detained men, while stressing that he was visiting