Late 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.

Lee said he demanded Kim visit Seoul for a summit as all two previous inter-Korean summits were held in Pyongyang, but he later agreed to travel to the North as the Chinese premier persuaded him not to attach too much importance on venue, according to Choe.

But the proposal never materialized due to disagreement in follow-up talks, Lee said.

It has been known for years that officials of the two Koreas met secretly in Singapore in October 2009 to organize a summit, but the negotiations broke down as Pyongyang demanded massive economic aid in exchange for agreeing to a summit.

North Korean officials must have thought that the South needs to pay something in return if its president is to visit the country, Lee was quoted as saying, adding that Pyongyang "could not break away from the past practice" of accepting aid in exchange for summits.

Lee has repeatedly pledged that he won't pay to hold a summit with the North or use an inter-Korean summit for political gains, voicing criticism of his liberal predecessors -- late former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun -- who were accused by conservative critics of paying too much to hold summits.

"If I had wanted to use it politically, I would have held a summit," Lee was quoted as saying. (Yonhap News)