Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has called on North Korea and the U.S. to engage in a dialogue of compromise in order to resolve the North's nuclear issue, which Kim called 'the biggest factor behind current global unrest'.

In a special lecture at the opening ceremony of the East Asian Forum in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur on Monday, Kim said the present easing of tensions between South and North Korea was insufficient to resolve the ongoing nuclear standoff without a reciprocal improvement in Washington-Pyongyang relations.

Kim also said in order to diffuse the nuclear crisis, Pyongyang must first completely dismantle its atomic weapons program and allow nuclear inspections by the international community.

At the same time, the former president called on the United States to provide the North with a security guarantee and to lift economic sanctions.