Story highlights McCain said current military spending levels were too low

He suggested considering deploying nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula

Washington (CNN) Sen. John McCain on Sunday called for the United States to step up its presence around North Korea and make clear to its leader, Kim Jong Un, that aggressive acts would lead to the annihilation of his country.

Washington needs to "make sure that Kim Jong Un knows that if he acts in an aggressive fashion, the price will be extinction," McCain said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The Arizona Republican called for a strategy on North Korea that involved increasing missile defense and other defensive capabilities in South Korea, doing more to pressure China, and considering the deployment of nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. McCain's remarks came in his first nationally televised interview since being diagnosed with brain cancer in July.

"The Korean defense minister just a few days ago called for nuclear weapons to be redeployed," McCain told anchor Jake Tapper, adding he thought "it ought to be seriously considered."

He said China was not doing enough to curtail its support of North Korea and that the US should use economic leverage to influence Beijing.

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