A main difference between President Donald Trump's North Korea policy and that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, is the potential for using military force, a US congressman said Tuesday.

The Trump administration has reportedly finalized its North Korea strategy with a focus on "maximum pressure and engagement" toward denuclearization of the communist nation.

The new policy does not appear much different from that of former President Barack Obama, known as "strategic patience," which centered on waiting for Pyongyang to show good faith while increasing sanctions and pressure on the regime.

But Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA) said the new policy has a military force component.

"I think some of the difference, of course, is as you see the potential for the military to be there, so the potential of force as well, too, is a sort of a new component with this," he said on CNN. "When you have diplomacy, whether you're conducting diplomacy or UN conventions or sanctions, whatever it is, sometimes you have to have at least the perception that you will back things up by force. So, that's the new component here."

That potential has made China work harder than before to rein in the North, Taylor said.

"They have said openly, you know, warning North Korea, as well as openly saying that they are engaging with our president to try to tamp down pressures over there," he said. "I think China has stepped up more than they ever have before. And you have to give credit where credit is due, that is because of this White House." (Yonhap)