Ex-security advisor Rice calls for steadily increasing pressure on NK

Former US National Security Advisor San Rice said Tuesday the US should foc on increasing pressure on North Korea, accing President Donald Trump of "vacillating" between threatening to e military force against the North and praising its leader.

"We can't allow Twitter wars to become shooting wars," Rice said during a speech at the Center for American Progress's "Ideas Conference." "So, instead of vacillating between reckless saber-rattling and dubbing Kim Jong-Un a 'smart cookie,' we should steadily apply increased pressure on North Korea, while protecting our allies and homeland."

Former US National Security Advisor San Rice (Yonhap)

Rice sharply criticized the Trump administration for its handling of foreign policy.

"Since I left the White Hoe, I become deeply concerned that the United States is squandering one of our greatest strategic assets, America's leadership of the world," she said.

She said that the Trump administration "looks at the world and sees only threats, immigrants, refugees, Mlims, Mexicans and even trade ... It's America first and the rest of the world last."

"But the world I see is also filled with profound opportunities. Our relationships are not zero sum. They should be mutually beneficial," Rice said. (Yonhap)