Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said Monday she has never seen "tensions" and "dangers" so high along the Korean peninsula.
Stephens, who was ambassador from 2008-2011, agreed with the Trump administration in "ratcheting up" sanctions against North Korea to counter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threat, she told Bloomberg TV Canada in an interview.
Stephens said Nouth Korean leader Kim Jong Un does not believe the country is "quite there yet" on having a "credible nuclear deterrent . . . including the ability to deliver an intercontinental weapon, but they think they're getting to it."
"The path that North Korea has doubled down on in the past several years, particularly in nuclear and missile development has raised tensions and has raised dangers to a level as high as I have ever seen them," Stephens added.
Yet, she said, "we're not inexorably heading toward armed conflict. Since 1953, we've had armistice, not a peace treaty . . . yet . . . a remarkably stable environment."
Along with sanctions, "we need to offer some kind of negotiating process."
"In the meantime, there also has to be greater attention on how to mitigate defense and deterrence . . . try to slow down their progress," she added.
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