She did not dispute that the current policy of sanctions on North Korea and pressure on its ally and protector China has failed to stop North Korean aggression, including the country's fifth nuclear test Friday.

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"I think we have an opening here that we haven't had in the last several years that I intend to do everything I can to take advantage of," Clinton said of the test and the international dismay it caused.

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The remarks put Clinton on record seeking a tougher line on North Korea than has been pursued by President Obama, whom she served as secretary of state.

Three presidents, beginning with Bill Clinton, have sought without lasting success to prevent or curb nuclear ambitions by North Korea.

In her remarks, Hillary Clinton pledged help for U.S. allies in the region — principally Japan and South Korea — in the form of U.S. missile defense systems.

"That is not something that North Korea or the Chinese or the Russians in the region are particularly pleased about, but what is the alternative?" she said. "We are not going to let anyone who is a treaty ally or partner of ours be threatened, and we are not going to let North Korea pursue a nuclear weapon with a ballistic-missile capacity to deliver it to the United States' territory. That is absolutely the bottom line."

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Clinton spoke after a meeting she called of former national security officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations. The main subject of the session was terrorism and the threat posed by the Islamic State, which Clinton said is not unlike the persistent threat from North Korea.

North Korea appeared to take a key step toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the mainland United States with an underground nuclear test the country said was a “nuclear warhead explosion.” It appeared to be North Korea’s biggest yet.

More U.S. sanctions on North Korea are appropriate, but so too are negotiations toward the kind of international agreement that led to United Nations and other international sanctions and penalties on Iran over its nuclear program, Clinton said.

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U.S. sanctions alone did not stop Iran from moving closer to being able to field a nuclear weapon, Clinton said. Iran denies seeking one but after extensive international negotiations has entered an international agreement limiting its nuclear activity in exchange for relief from sanctions and other concessions.