SALT LAKE CITY — A military strike is one way the U.S. could respond to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, a Utah congressman said Wednesday.

But Republican Rep. Chris Stewart also called it a "lousy" option because it risks the outbreak of war on the Korean peninsula.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called Tuesday's missile launch an Independence Day present to the U.S. The missile soared high into space before turning around and landing in the sea near Japan.

"Militarily we could eliminate his nuclear program. We could eliminate his ICBM program. We could do it in a couple nights with not a lot of exertion from our side in the sense it would be a few tactical military strikes," Stewart said on KSL Newsradio's "The Doug Wright Show."

"But the central question is: How does he respond? He has the capability of killing a million South Koreans within a couple weeks."

The U.S. would have to exhaust every other option before taking military action, he said.

Stewart, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said China needs to be convinced to engage in ways it hasn't before. He said he was surprised to learn on a recent trip to China that its leaders have never had high-level talks with Kim Jong Un.

"It’s the most hopeful option that we have, but it’s also probably the least likely," he said.

Calling the it "most dangerous situation that we face right now," Stewart said President Donald Trump will deal with North Korea in some way during his term. Stewart said the "strategic patience" of the past 30 years or so has failed.

"This is a very, very challenging problem for the president, for our nation," the congressman said.

Though Kim Jong Un is often portrayed as crazy, Stewart said he doesn't believe that's true. He said the North Korean leader doesn't want to die or see his family die, nor does he want to lose power or see his country destroyed.

"As long as that’s true, we can perhaps find ways of moving levers that he will respond to. If he was actually insane, if he was actually irrational, this gets nearly impossible or at least much more difficult. But we hope and we believe that’s actually not the case," Stewart said.

North Korea said the missile flew on a steep trajectory, going 1,741 miles above the Earth before splashing down in the sea 578 miles from its launch site. Analysts said if the missile were fired on a standard, flatter trajectory, it would be capable of reaching Alaska.