The White House declined to comment on the defector’s appeal, and Mr. Trump has repeatedly cited the “beautiful letters” Mr. Kim has sent him personally over the past 18 months insisting that the young North Korean leader is sincere in seeking a denuclearization deal.

Two sources verified that the defector’s letter was delivered to two of Mr. Trump’s top North Korea policy advisers: Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger and acting National Security Council Asia Director Allison Hooker.

The Times obtained a copy on the condition that it not name the defector because of security concerns. Three sources confirmed that the person worked for many years in high rungs of the North Korean government. The letter writer says he served three decades as an “executive” in the ruling Workers’ Party of North Korea.

In an interview, the defector told The Times that Mr. Trump should heed his warnings because “I know and worked with the top players in [Pyongyang].”

One former U.S. official said the defector, who left North Korea more than a year ago, has played an integral role advising U.S. agencies and is well known in national security circles. The person said it would not be surprising if the White House sought to keep the letter to Mr. Trump a secret.

“I don’t think they want any fingerprints on it,” the former official said. “If they acknowledge it and there’s a sense it is influencing U.S. policy or that Mr. Trump is taking the word of a defector over that of Kim Jong-un, it could undermine the president’s relationship with the North Korean leader.”

‘Tricking’ Trump

The defector said Mr. Kim was disingenuous in his 2018 meeting with Mr. Trump in Singapore, issuing only vague promises of eventual denuclearization while seeking immediate U.S. economic and security concessions. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a liberal who has long backed rapprochement on the divided Korean Peninsula, participated in Mr. Kim’s deception, the letter says.

“Kim Jong-un signed on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, not the denuclearization of North Korea, at the Singapore summit,” the letter to the White House states. “Both Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un tricked the U.S. president. As we know, Kim Jong-un has promised to denuclearize but has not given up a single nuclear weapon in a year and five months.”

The allegation is not likely to sit well with the Moon government, although it is well known that many North Korean defectors sharply disagree with the South Korean president’s conciliatory approach to North Korea.

Analysts say there are grounds to be wary of claims by North Korean defectors. They say many exaggerate their status to enhance their legitimacy and influence upon fleeing the Kim regime. There are also concerns that even the most highly vetted defectors may be involved in some form of subterfuge designed to benefit the Kim regime in the long term.

But the letter-writing defector insisted in an interview that the goal of the letter was to give Mr. Trump “insight into why Kim Jong-un is not giving up nuclear weapons and then how to solve this problem.”

“President Trump always mentions that past U.S. administrations have been deceived by North Korea,” the defector told The Times. “I’m trying to tell Mr. Trump that he too is also now being deceived by North Korea, so that perhaps he can correct his mistake by taking my advice.”

(Excerpt from The Washington Times. Article by Guy Taylor.)