Former president Kim Dae-jung says he wants to visit North Korea by train.

Kim, who is recovering from bacterial pneumonia at home, told Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Byung-wan and members of the ruling Uri Party Sunday that he wants to make the trip if his health permits and after the weather gets warmer.

The author of the "sunshine" policy of engaging North Korea, Kim flew to Pyongyang in 2000 to hold a historic summit with the North's leader, Kim Jong-il.

Reconnection of two railways across the Demilitarized Zone is almost complete the Gyeongui Line of the western Korean Peninsula and the Donghae Line of the eastern side.

The two Koreas have used parallel inter-Korean roads since last year to transport South Korean workers and visitors to the Gaesong Industrial Complex and the tourist resort at Mount Geumgang.