A Seoul-based daily says former President Kim Dae-jung has been secretly preparing to make a visit to North Korea.

The Segye Ilbo newspaper, quoting a source familiar with inter-Korean economic projects, reported Monday that Kim had originally planned a visit to Pyongyang to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the June 15th South-North Joint Declaration. However, the source said the trip had been delayed due to the hectic political schedule in the South, including the April 15th general election and the June 5th by-elections.

The source said that Kim's Pyongyang trip was being pursued independently from a recent proposal within the ruling camp to send the former head of state to the North as President Roh Moo-hyun's special envoy on the anniversary of the Joint Declaration.

The reports said that if the former president visits the North, he would urge North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to make a return visit to Seoul and to promote peace and reconciliation with the South.

Meanwhile, Lee Bu-young, a member of the ruling Uri Party's Standing Central Committee lent his own voice to the matter, asking for active consideration of the proposal to send Mr. Kim as a special envoy to the North.

He said such a proposal was a meaningful and timely one, considering the current situation when ties between the two Koreas are fast improving.