Former president Jimmy Carter says "the crisis is over," but the White House is cautious about his talks with North Korea on its nuclear program.
There "may be an opening" to defuse the showdown sparked by North Korea's defiance, says Robert Gallucci, the top U.S. official on Korea.
And the administration says it'll still pursue U.N. sanctions until it hears from Pyongyang.
Gallucci's remarks came after President Clinton's aides spoke Sunday with Carter, just back from North Korea.
Gallucci says he'll act quickly on dictator Kim Il Sung's request for resumption of formal talks - suspended a year ago - if North Korea won't reprocess atomic weapons fuel or kick out U.N. inspectors.
U.S. officials say Gallucci's talks with North Koreans could begin this week in Geneva.
Carter says Kim offered to:
-- Suspend nuclear weapons activities during talks.
-- Allow a joint inspection of possible sites of 3,000 U.S. graves from the Korean War.
-- Hold a summit with South Korean President Kim Young Sam, the first between leaders of divided Korea.
Carter says he made "a mistake" in telling North Korea's Kim the sanctions effort would be suspended. But, he adds, "if I thought sanctions were a good idea, I wouldn't have gone."
Despite White House grumbling, Carter says Clinton told him he was "very gratified I had gone."
