The White House has abandoned plans to nominate Victor Cha as US ambassador to Seoul after the Korea expert raised concerns about US plans to use a military strike to give North Korea a “bloody nose”.

Two people familiar with the situation said the White House stopped returned calls from Mr Cha, a former Bush administration official who teaches at Georgetown University, after he expressed concern in a December meeting about a plan to warn Pyongyang with a narrow military strike.

The White House notified Mr Cha at the weekend that his nomination, which had been in the works for months, would not proceed. The two people said he had received his security clearances and had been approved by the South Korean government, a process that would not have continued if the White House found a problem during his vetting. Friends and colleagues of Mr Cha had increasingly questioned why his nomination had not been sent to the Senate.