North Korea will continue its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and the U.S. cannot count on China to apply sufficient pressure to deter the growing threat, experts told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Also, a U.S. military strike on Pyongyang would pose huge risks for the U.S., South Korea and other allies in the region, and the outlook for regime change is grim even if economic incentives were offered.

"The challenges emanating from North Korea are obviously real, dangerous and in the near term," Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace testified to at full Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about policy and strategy in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tellis added, "The challenges emanating from China are long term, enduring and aimed fundamentally at decoupling the United States from its Asian partners."

The hearing came as tensions remained high on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea conducted artillery drills Tuesday, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. It reported the Pyongyang regime "staged what appears to be the largest firing drill," which it said was to mark the 85th founding anniversary of communist state's military.

Meantime, experts said more could be done to apply economic pressure on North Korea but it would involve sanctioning Chinese entities, including banks.

"If we're going to be serious about this, we're probably going to have to go down that road," Aaron Friedberg, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, testified.