The U.S. military being deployed in the North Korea region will help with diplomacy, according to Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
"The more military we deploy, saying look, we're serious about this, is empowering the diplomatic and economic instruments of power to hopefully compel the regime to denuclearize," Kinzinger said Thursday on Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"The assets are in place to do something because whenever — if in fact, God forbid — but if, in fact, the military needs to be used, we need it on our terms. We need as many assets in place to have as many simultaneous opening strikes as possible to reduce the amount of return fire that can be done," Kinzinger said.
Military assets also send a message to China, Kinzinger said.
"The Chinese have as much of an interest of a not-strong American presence in that region as the North Koreans do," the congressman said in the interview.
"We cannot accept the Kim (Jong Un) regime with nuclear weapons capable of being delivered here when they've said they have every intention of doing it," he said.
The congressman said he hopes that the show of threat of military option is enough to convince Kim Jong Un to negotiate.
"You can't do diplomacy successfully against an adversary without having a successful potential of a military option. Now, nobody wants that, but it's what compels Kim Jong Un to the table," he said in the "America's Newsroom" interview.
"He knows if we use military force, he will die. That's what will hopefully compel him to change his behavior," the congressman said.
Kinzinger has weighed in on North Korea before. On Sept. 8, he also noted that the U.S. needs military backing in order for diplomacy to work.
"The hope is that diplomacy works," Kinzinger said in a Fox News interview at that time.
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