WASHINGTON -- The United States will use "all the means at our disposal," while keeping military options on the table, to realize a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, the nominee to be America's No. 2 diplomat said.

John Sullivan, named to be deputy secretary of state, also said during his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that the US will turn up pressure on China.

"Our goal is to have a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. That is our objective and we're going to use all the means at our disposal, our national power, to accomplish that, in working with allies, partners and others, and having as an option the use of other means at our disposal with the Defense Department," Sullivan said.

The main point of US President Donald Trump's North Korea policy is to put maximum pressure on the regime through economic sanctions and diplomatic measures, and a key pillar of the pressure campaign lies with China, the main food and energy provider for the North.

"The secretary has made clear that we will all of the legal and policy authorities that we have to ... turn the dial on the pressure on China to make sure that we are leaning in ... on China. Leaning on China more than we ever have to make clear how important this is to the United States," Sullivan said.

Trump has repeatedly praised Chinese President Xi Jinping in an effort to encourage Beijing to take tougher measures against the North. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson chaired a special session of the UN Security Council last month and urged UN members to suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations with the North and cut off trade ties supporting Pyongyang's illicit activities. (Yonhap)