MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has made a rare public appearance at a ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, the country's founder.

The reclusive communist state's Central Television showed the ailing 67-year-old leader limping slightly as he stepped up to the stage in a stadium in Pyongyang.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam, gave an address "filled with propaganda messages extolling the late president."

Kim Jong-il took over as leader after his father's death of a heart attack in 1994. However, Kim Il-sung is officially the "eternal president."

The ceremony was only the leader's second major public appearance since a reported stroke last year.

North Korea, with its controversial missile and nuclear tests, is likely to be one of the main discussion points at the upcoming Group of Eight summit in Italy.