Former President Kim Dae-jung has urged the United States to hold dialogue with North Korea and give the communist state another chance to resolve the nuclear standoff.

Appearing on CNN's Talk Asia program Saturday, Kim said he cannot understand why Washington has snubbed talks with Pyongyang, even though former U.S. President Ronald Reagan talked with the former Soviet Union, which Reagan nicknamed the "evil empire."

Kim said that though China has great influence over North Korea, it cannot control Pyongyang. He said North Korea should first talk with the United States before doing so with China and South Korea.

On the North's missile test, he said Pyongyang made a big mistake because its launches escalated tension in Northeast Asia and prompted Japan's rearmament.

Though he said he warned Pyongyang that the launches will not help matters, he said the North did not listen to him.