A University of Georgia professor detailed Carter's offer to Korea JoongAng Daily, a South Korean newspaper.

"Carter wants to meet with the North Korean leader and play a constructive role for peace on the Korean Peninsula as he did in 1994," Park Han-shik told the newspaper.

Park, who met with Carter, is the professor emeritus at the university's School of Public & International Affairs. 
"Should former President Carter be able to visit North Korea, he would like to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and discuss a peace treaty between the United States and the North and a complete denuclearization of North Korea," Park told the paper. 

Park said Carter wants "to prevent a second Korean War." 

The offer from the 39th president comes amid heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.

Pyongyang in early September claimed it successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb that can be placed on an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Trump administration at the end of the month slapped new sanctions on several North Koreans banks and nationals abroad.