The new PACOM commander is keeping to the official line of demanding that North Korea denuclearize:

The new commander of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans says North Korea must be watched very closely and that China’s growing military capabilities are also causing concern in the region. Admiral Robert Willard spoke to reporters in Seoul Wednesday, for the first time since he took command.

Admiral Willard says the United States and other nations must continue to deal with North Korea’s “unpredictability,” and work through military deterrence and diplomatic pressure to convince the country’s leaders to abandon their nuclear program. “A nuclear-armed North Korea and a North Korea that chooses to provoke and a North Korea that may be on the brink of succession, all those things make North Korea certainly worthy of our attention now,” he said. “So, North Korea needs to be watched very closely.”  [Chosun Ilbo]

By the way if you didn’t like the movie Top Gun, you now know who to blame:

The former top Navy fighter pilot, who now commands all U.S. forces in the region, has been the U.S. Navy’s Pacific commander for the past two years. He has also commanded the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the western Pacific and served as an adviser and pilot for the well known movie “Top Gun” in 1986.

Then again is there anyone who didn’t like Top Gun?