US command believes Kim has not imagined nuclear-free N.Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un does not appear to have imagined his country without nuclear weapons as he regards them as means of survival and international influence, the US Indo-Pacific Command was quoted as saying.

In its news letter released on Sunday, the Korea-US Alliance Foundation disclosed the content of its delegation's discussions with the command's officials during its visit to the command's headquarters in Hawaii last month, Yonhap news agency reported.

"The command explained that Kim Jong-un has not been imagining a North Korea without nuclear weapons and seeks to maintain its survival and international influence through nuclear arms," the Korean-language newsletter reads.

Casting the North as posing a "very serious threat," the command noted "considerable" progress in the North's weapons program in terms of its missiles' accuracy, maneuverability and the weight of warheads mountable on them.

The command requested that the South ask China during its bilateral diplomatic and economic engagement to help ongoing efforts to denuclearize the North, according to the newsletter.