President Clinton discussed missile development by North Korea yesterday when he met the country's vice-chairman of the national defence commission, Mr Cho Myong Nok.
The US is seriously concerned about a future threat from North Korean nuclear missiles.
It is the first time a US President has met a senior official from North Korea with which the US does not have diplomatic relations. Mr Cho, who is second-in-command to the North Korean leader, Mr Kim Jong-il, is the first senior official from North Korea to visit the US.
Mr Cho spent an hour at the White House and left without making any comment. He handed over a letter to Mr Clinton from Mr Kim. North Korea wants US investment to help its weak economy and to be removed from the State Department's list of states which allegedly sponsor terrorism.
Earlier Mr Cho met the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, at the State Department where he changed into his military uniform before going to the White House.
In a statement released before his meetings, Mr Cho said: "During our visit we will do our best to have frank discussions with American leadership so as to remove deeply rooted age-old distrust and make an epochal change in advancing relations between our two countries onto a new stage."