U.S. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will intensify sanctions causing real pain to North Korea as she's determined not to allow Pyongyang to acquire a deliverable nuclear weapons capability, a top foreign policy adviser said.



"She believes that we simply cannot and will not allow North Korea to obtain a deliverable nuclear weapon, which would be a direct threat to the U.S.," said Laura Rosenberger, one of Clinton's closest foreign policy brains, in an interview with the Voice of America.



"She also believes that we need to work with our allies to increase the pressure on North Korea, so that it understands that its only choice is to give up its nuclear program. So far, they have been sanctioned, but not to a degree that has inflicted pain," she said.



Clinton will also work with China to impose significant additional pressure on the North, Rosenberger said.



"That means doing some things that China may not like ? taking a look at our defense posture and making sure we are doing everything we need to do to protect the U.S. and our allies from the threat North Korea poses," Rosenberger said, referring to measures like the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system.



Beijing has strongly protested the planned deployment, seeing the system, especially its powerful "X-band radar" as a threat to its security interests, despite repeated assurances from Washington and Seoul that the system is designed only to cope with North Korean threats.



"It is incumbent on China to make sure that the threat from North Korea is removed, so that China does not face that same kind of pressure from the U.S.," Rosenberger said.



Clinton's policy on the North boils down to imposing stronger sanctions while remaining open to diplomacy.



Former Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy, who is considered the No. 1 candidate for defense secretary, also said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency last month that the U.S. should not reopen negotiations with North Korea as long as it shows no interest in denuclearization.



Flournoy also said that additional sanctions are the only way to make the North consider denuclearization.



Calling North Korea China's problem, Republican candidate Donald Trump has urged Beijing to use its influence to rein in the recalcitrant neighbor. Still, he has also expressed his willingness to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



"Trump is willing to negotiate from a position of strength with China to see if we can come to an agreement. He wants to say it is not in China's interests to have this reckless, rogue nuclear regime on its border, especially when it is showing signs of strain," Alexander Gray, a senior defense adviser to Trump, also told VOA.



"Trump is willing to look at the (U.S.-China) relationship holistically and see if Beijing can play a constructive role with Pyongyang," he was quoted as saying. (Yonhap)



