The U.S. Pacific commander has said North Korea and its unpredictable leader Kim Jong-un are his command's biggest worries as the communist nation is pursuing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
  

"The greatest threat that I face on a day-to-day basis is the threat from North Korea because you have an unpredictable leader who is in complete command of his country and his military," Adm. Harry Harris Jr. said in a meeting with the Military Reporters and Editors Association.
  

The North's young leader Kim is "on a quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them intercontinentally" and the regime "poses a very real threat to the 28,000 Americans in South Korea, the nation of South Korea, Japan, and on and on," Harris said at the meeting Friday, according to the Defense Department.
  

"At some point in the future, as he develops his capability, North Korea will present a very real threat to Hawaii and the rest of the United States," the commander said. "Now, I have to be ready from a position of strength to deal with North Korea, and we are ready to deal ... any time that Kim Jong-un decides to act."
  

Harris said U.S. engagement with treaty allies South Korea and Japan is the foundation for peace and security in the region. The three countries not only share common values and common concerns, but they also face a common threat in North Korea, he said.
  

The commander said that threats from the North are also a reason why he welcomes Japan's decision to play a greater role in regional security. He said he will do all he can to look for ways for South Korea, Japan and the U.S. to collaborate.
  

Harris has made similar remarks about North Korea.
  

Ahead of his inauguration, he called Pyongyang the "greatest threat we face" and said concerns about the communist nation keep him awake at night. (Yonhap)