Former President Kim Dae-jung says the nuclear standoff involving North Korea is resolvable if Pyongyang and Washington can resolve their differences.

In a keynote speech at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Gwangju Friday, he blamed strained relations between the North and the United States for stifling progress in inter-Korean relations.

To remove mutual distrust, Kim urged Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambition and allow verification of its nuclear activities, and for Washington to guarantee security to the North and lift its economic sanctions.

Citing the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju as helping democracy take root in South Korea, he said democratization promoted the people's desire for reunification. He added the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000 ushered in an era of national reconciliation and cooperation.