The paper said:

Questioned by a member of the south Korean media delegation about when reunification would be achieved while receiving it in August 2000, Kim Jong Il gave the following impromptu clear-cut answer to him: The time of reunification depends on the will of the north and the south. Reunification may come right now, depending on how they determine and how they pool efforts in the spirit of "By our nation itself."

All members of the delegation were deeply impressed to hear his words.

There is no fixed day of reunification as he said.

Because if all Koreans pool their efforts and achieve the great national unity under the banner of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, this precisely means the reunification of the nation.

Hearing Kim Jong Il lucidly explain in a few simple words the timetable of reunification which everyone thought hardly achievable, all members of the delegation were admired by his rare wisdom.