U.S. Navy commander calls North Korea 'rogue nation'

SEOUL, June 10 (UPI) -- Navy Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Harry B. Harris called North Korea a rogue nation led by an arrogant leader during a visit with South Korea's Navy.

"I believe North Korea is dangerous, it's unpredictable, and it's led by a leader [Kim Jong Un] who is arrogant. I consider North Korea a rogue nation discredited by the entire world," Harris said Wednesday, according to Yonhap.

Harris was in South Korea to meet with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo, and to pay respects to sailors killed in the 2010 attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan.

North Korea recently refused to apologize for the sinking of the South Korean warship that killed 46 seamen, although a South Korea-led team of international experts concluded a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the sinking.

South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Sinmun reported Harris said the North does not have courage to bear responsibility for the Cheonan sinking and the 2010 bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island that killed four South Koreans.

Harris said the United States is committed to South Korea and remains vigilant in the face of North Korea's continued provocations.

"It is no accident that the first country that I visited as the Pacific Command commander in the bilateral sense was Korea," he said.

South Korea Joint Chief of Staff Adm. Choi Yun-hee said North Korea's military is heightening tensions along the western maritime border between the two Koreas.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander later met with South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo to discuss security and paid a courtesy call to South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday.

U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and Lt. Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, commander of the 7th U.S. Air Force, were in attendance, according to South Korea.