Former President Kim Dae-jung says North Korean leader Kim Jong-il must pay a return visit to Seoul. Only then, he says, can the two countries truly walk together on the path of reconciliation and cooperation.

In an interview with China's CCTV Sunday, Kim said the North Korean leader's pledge to visit Seoul had been included in the joint statement signed during the 2000 inter-Korean summit talks.

Kim assessed his "sunshine policy" of engagement with the North as "positive", saying it had accelerated reconciliatory efforts between the two Koreas.

The former president also said the current Roh Moo-hyun administration has generally been successful in representing the South Korean people, even when addressing North Korean issues.