The White House has privately asked Jimmy Carter, the former US president who previously served as an envoy between Washington and Pyongyang, not to attempt any rapprochement that could hurt efforts to put pressure on Kim Jong Un’s regime.
Brian Hook, a top state department official, personally made the request to Mr Carter last weekend at the former president’s home in Georgia. The meeting came after Mr Carter requested a briefing on the White House’s hardening stance towards North Korea’s nuclear programme, according to one person familiar with the nature of the talks.
The meeting with Mr Carter came four days before Donald Trump took the rare step of inviting all 100 US senators to the White House for a briefing on North Korea. The plea to Mr Carter signalled concern that the former president could complicate US policy towards Pyongyang, as has occurred before, including in 1994 when Bill Clinton had been considering launching a military strike against North Korea.