© UPI/Jim Ruymen
"We're in deep doo doo," Cheney told lawmakers, according to a GOP leadership aide.
Cheney added the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is unpredictable and doesn't share the United States worldview.
One lawmaker present at the session, Rep. Steve Southerland of Florida, said Cheney wore a cowboy hat and "looked really good, spoke really clearly, lucidly."
"It was nice to see him doing well," Southerland said, noting the last time Cheney was on Capitol Hill he "didn't look good - very frail, but in this meeting he looked great."
Cheney, 72, underwent a successful heart transplant in 2012 after a series of heart attacks over many years.
Southerland said Cheney spent about 10 minutes in the GOP leadership meeting Tuesday, and didn't give any specific policy recommendations or critiques of how the Obama administration is handling the situation in North Korea.
Cheney talked about the North Korean leader, Southerland said, and shared some of his history dealing with Saddam Hussein, noting "you never know what they're thinking."
Southerland, summarizing the former vice president's remarks, said Cheney advised not to "eliminate any possibility."
"Here's a young guy we don't know very much about - have very little intel on him, so we just need to make sure that we don't assume why he's doing what he's doing because he could be doing what he's doing for any number of reasons," Southerland recalled Cheney saying.
Cheney also dropped by the weekly House GOP whip meeting at the invitation of Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
Cheney himself is a former House Republican whip.
"Whip McCarthy invited Vice President Cheney to discuss the ongoing situation on the Korean Peninsula with members of our whip team. We appreciate the vice president for sharing his insight and experience on the matter," a McCarthy aide told CNN.
The aide declined to say whether Cheney suggested any specific course of action on the situation in North Korea during this meeting.
"Cheney added the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is unpredictable and doesn't share the United States worldview."
Of course they don't share the United States worldview, as well as probably more than 100 other countries.
"The aide declined to say whether Cheney suggested any specific course of action on the situation in North Korea during this meeting."
Dick might have suggested they shoot North Korea in the face.