Secondary sanctions on North Korea, along with the international sanctions imposed by the United Nations, are “important” tools in pressuring North Korea to denuclearize, a top U.S. official nominated to lead the State Department’s East Asian and Pacific affairs bureau said on Tuesday.

At his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Daniel J. Kritenbrink -- a career diplomat who served as a senior adviser for North Korea policy in 2017 and was the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam during the 2019 Hanoi Summit -- listed North Korea as the third among six priorities he said he would focus on if he becomes the next State Department assistant secretary for East Asia. President Joe Biden nominated him for the post in March this year.