The outgoing commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris, warned Wednesday that North Korea is the United States’ most immediate threat.
Harris has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to South Korea.
“North Korea remains our most imminent threat,” Harris said, according to The Hill, adding, “And a nuclear-capable North Korea with missiles that can reach the United States is unacceptable.”
Harris was speaking at a ceremony where he was handing over leadership of U.S. Pacific Command to Adm. Philip Davidson.
His comments come as the United States is preparing for a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which is back on schedule for June 12 in Singapore just days after Trump announced he was canceling it.
The American president said on Friday the summit could go ahead as planned following a more appeasing statement from Pyongyang and productive talks with North Korean officials.
On Sunday, an American team began talks with North Korean officials to prepare a possible meeting between Trump and Kim.
U.S. officials recently said that North Korea had directly confirmed that Kim was willing to negotiate about potential denuclearization at the summit with Trump. Kim later announced himself that his country would close its nuclear test site and suspend long-range missile tests.