The Trump administration is reported to have established its North Korea policy focused on "maximum pressure and engagement" in resolving the North's nuclear issue.

Based on this principle and in cooperation with China, the U.S. government is expected to further strengthen sanctions and pressure on the North, which continues nuclear tests and missile provocations.

The Associated Press on Friday cited an unidentified U.S. official as saying the North Korea strategy was finalized after a two-month review. The AP said advisers to Trump weighed a range of ideas of how to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, including "military options" and "trying to overthrow the isolated communist dictatorship's leadership." 

The report said they even looked at the notion of accepting North Korea as a nuclear state but that in the end, they settled on a policy that appears to represent continuity.

The officials who asked for anonymity said the administration's emphasis for now will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China. 

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