The new head of the U.S. Pacific Command says the U.S. and other countries must continue to deal with the unpredictability of the government in North Korea in order to get the communist country to abandon its nuclear weapons.

Admiral Robert Willard, who is accompanying Defense Secretary Robert Gates on his trip to South Korea, told reporters Wednesday that the command will continue such efforts together with the international community and the whole of the U.S. government.

Willard said a nuclear-armed North Korea that chooses to provoke and is on the brink of succession must be watched extremely closely.