The real Kim

Mr Bae told a press conference in Seoul on Monday that he was threatening to go to court so that he could appear in television commercials.

The 53-year-old environmentalist says he has been offered parts in adverts and been invited to talk shows - but all to no avail.

He says he has been unfairly banned from appearing on television by South Korea's advertisement screening committee.

The committee says that his appearance on television could violate the privacy of the North Korean leader, as well as local national security laws banning any pro-North Korean activity.

Bae: Fighting to be a star

"We will take this to a court as the committee is breaching freedom of expression," said television advertisement director Kim Doo-young, 35.

The director had wanted to to make a commercial for instant fish soup featuring actors resembling South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung and his counterpart from the North.

Mr Bae has drawn the attention of the South Korean media since the landmark summit between the leaders of the two Koreas met last year in June.

He won a Kim Jong-il look-alike contest last year and has appeared on television and in numerous print advertisements.