President Donald Trump has "the resolve to deal with the North Korean issue, no matter how difficult it is," Rep. Will Hurd said Wednesday after a classified White House briefing on dictator Kim Jong Un's nuclear and missile activities.
"They will use all the levers of national power — diplomatic, military intelligence and economic — to deal with this issue," the Texas Republican, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told Wolf Blitzer on CNN in an interview.
"It is clear to me that Kim Jong Un is going to stop at nothing to get an intercontinental ballistic missile — and we have to be prepared for that eventuality."
Hurd, 39, a former undercover CIA agent in Afghanistan who was first elected in 2014, participated in the classified session with other House members. Senators were briefed earlier on Pyongyang by top Trump administration officials.
He declined to say whether military options — including a pre-emptive strike — were put forth by Trump officials, saying instead that "the realistic scenario right now is to work with a number of partners across the world."
The objective would be to "make them realize that North Korea is a global problem, not just a problem on the Korean peninsula," Hurd said. "Also, to work with China.
"The majority of trade to North Korea comes through China — and China has a number of tools where they can help tighten up sanctions around North Korea and make the North Korean dictator rethink some of his strategies."
Hurd acknowledged that "the Chinese have been a difficult partner when it comes to North Korea.
"But they are coming to the realization that Kim Jong Un is more of a threat to China than a U.S. South Korean alliance.
"North Korea is one of the places they could potentially kill tens of millions of people within 12 to 13 minutes — and that's a real threat.
"Not only to our friends in South Korea and Japan and the U.S. homeland," Hurd added. "That's a threat to the world."
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