Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said that during a 1994 meeting he had with late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, he found the North’s leader to be very intelligent.

In an interview with Thailand's business daily The Nation, Carter said Kim, a dictator for 50 years, knew everything about his country. He said he knew every building, when it was built, what it was for and so on.

Carter said he got along quite well with Kim and that he negotiated with him to have a summit meeting with South Korea's president. He said Kim was planning the summit when he died. Kim died only one month after the U.S. leader's visit.

Carter said that in the long term, he believes some reconciliation will be seen between the two Koreas.