The reclusive North Korean regime of Kim Jong Un is the biggest threat to security in Asia, the nominee to become the next commander of U.S. Pacific Command told members of Congress.
“Our most volatile and dangerous threat is North Korea, with its quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them intercontinentally,” Admiral Harry Harris said yesterday during his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
As head of Pacific Command, Harris would be responsible for the U.S.’s armed forces, including the air force, army and navy, in the region. He’d also lead the military aspects of President Barack Obama’s “rebalance” toward Asia, which calls for 60 percent of
U.S. military assets to be located in the region by 2020.
The U.S. is already moving to meeting the goal. About 56 percent of its naval assets are based in Asia, with 60 percent of the submarine fleet now in place, said Harris, who is currently commander of the Pacific Fleet.
Harris said U.S. naval capacity in Asia would be weakened if the administration kept to its so-called sequester, which entails possible cuts to the fiscal 2016 defense budget of $35 billion.
North Korea would seek to take advantage of a diminished U.S. presence, he said, with Kim a “a very opportunistic and very unpredictable and ruthless leader.”
“North Korea is seeking asymmetrical advantages over us and our allies in the Pacific,” he said, citing the regime’s use of cyber warfare.
Nuclear Tests
North Korea has tested three nuclear devices since 2006 and is developing long-range ballistic missiles that may eventually be capable of reaching the U.S. The regime in Pyongyang remains in a state of war with U.S. ally South Korea, with more than 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea to defend one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders.Harris said the sequester would also affect the U.S. Navy’s capacity against China’s increased military spending. China’s navy will have about 350 ships by 2020, all based in Asia, while the U.S. naval force would number between 250 and 255 ships worldwide if the sequester takes effect, he said. Without the budget cuts, the U.S. Navy’s fleet would increase to about 308 ships by 2020 from 289 now, he said.
Harris said he was concerned about China’s actions in asserting its claims to territory in the East China Sea and South China Sea, where China is “working counter to regional stability and peace.”
“The dramatic rise of China’s military, the uncertainty about how it will use its growing capabilities and its provocative actions in the region represent our most enduring challenge,” Harris said.
‘Indisputable Leverage’
“The best opportunity that we have to preclude China’s revanchist tendencies in Asia is forward presence, is to be there when it matters and where it matters,” he said.While the U.S. Air Force can “get in there and do the missions assigned to them,” the submarine fleet provides “indisputable leverage,” Harris said.
“Our submarines, which are inherently stealthy, provide a measure of advantage today and in the foreseeable future over China and any other adversary in the Pacific.”
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