Kim Dae-Jung returns home from summit

The South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung, speaking on his return from a historic visit to North Korea, has said he's convinced re-unification with Pyongyang can be achieved.

Mr Kim described his three-day meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, as the biggest event in Korean history.

During their talks, the two men signed a key agreement on steps towards reconciliation.

Southern officials said they also agreed to renounce acts of military aggression against each other and to set up a military hot-line. President Kim said he'd raised international concerns about the North's nuclear and missile programme and had discussed the presence of United States troops in South Korea and his country's anti-communist national security law. A BBC correspondent in Seoul says many South Koreans believe that fifty years of confrontation on the peninsula could finally be coming to an end , although some are concerned about giving too much economic aid to the North without first getting military concessions.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service