WASHINGTON -- The US Special Operations Command is training actively to ensure readiness for contingency operations in North Korea, where its capabilities to counter weapons of mass destruction could play a critical role, its commander said.

Gen. Raymond Thomas made the remark during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, saying the threat of "an increasingly rogue North Korea" is of growing concern to him, and the North's threat is no longer a regional one, but has "global implications."

"In response, United States Pacific Command and United States Forces-Korea are focused on sustaining credible combat power in the region, maintaining unrelenting resolve in the face of multiple provocations, and sustaining partnerships with our closest allies," Thomas said.

"We are actively pursuing a training path to ensure readiness for the entire range of contingency operations in which SOF, to include our exquisite CWMD capabilities, may play a critical role," the general said, using an acronym for counter weapons of mass destruction. (Yonhap)