Late N.K. leader first proposed summit with Lee: official

ate North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had first proposed an inter-Korean summit in 2009, though the proposal later fell apart as Pyongyang demanded economic aid in return, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was quoted Monday as saying.

The proposal was conveyed via Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Lee said in an interview with the Donga Ilbo newspaper last week, according to senior presidential press secretary Choe Guem-nak. Kim attached no conditions to the offer at the time, such as demanding food aid, Lee said.

"I determined that it is important to normalize relations between the South and the North. So I responded that I am willing to meet if it is helpful for maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula and making progress in the nuclear issue," Lee was quoted as saying.