SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Former NBA star Dennis Rodman is tapping his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to call for the release of a Korean-American man detained in the North.

Rodman met with Mr Kim and watched an exhibition game together when he visited Pyongyang in February.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Rodman called on Mr Kim "to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose". Bae is a tour operator arrested in North Korea in November. The Supreme Court sentenced him last week to 15 years of hard labour for unspecified "hostile acts". Bae is at least the sixth American detained there since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released, some after trips to Pyongyang by prominent Americans.

Pyongyang rejects speculation it seeks a US envoy to negotiate Bae's release.