South Korea has formally offered to invite the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK), Kim Jong-il, to an international nuclear summit it will host, local media reported Wednesday.

"The genuine intention of our government has been delivered to North Korea (DPRK)," Seoul's semi-official Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying.

The official said the formal offer was proposed during recent "person-to-person contact" between the two Koreas, according to Yonhap.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said earlier this month that he is ready to invite his northern counterpart to the nuclear summit next March on condition that Pyongyang first demonstrates its firm commitment to its nuclear disarmament.

The invitation, if accepted, will bring Kim to a forum to be attended by some 50 global leaders, but observers say there is a fat chance he will show up.

The DPRK has rebuffed the invitation, with the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland calling it a "ridiculous attempt to disarm the DPRK." But officials?in Seoul?said it might not represent Pyongyang's official position.