An American journalist has proposed inviting North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to the U.S. as a way to resolve the North Korean nuclear problem.

Peter Carlson, a former Washington Post reporter, said in a contribution to his ex-employer that U.S. President Barack Obama should invite the North Korean leader to the U.S., just as President Dwight D. Eisenhower hosted Nikita Khrushchev 50 years ago.

The former leader of the Soviet Union spent a week and a half touring around the U.S., and according to Carlson, learned that America wasn't the capitalist nightmare portrayed in Soviet propaganda.

In the column entitled "Welcome, Dear Leader!" Carlson proposed giving Kim a chance to experience American culture firsthand, as he has a "well-documented fondness for American pop culture."