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TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon said on Tuesday that North Korea’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program would make the reclusive state a global threat if it became successful over time.

Shannon made the comment to reporters in Tokyo after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s top national security adviser, Shotaro Yachi.

Under third-generation leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has been conducting missile tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the mainland United States.