Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said that the North Korean ballistic missile test on Sunday was meant for provoking Tokyo and the region.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is presently visiting the U.S., was likely the main audience for North Korea's missile launch.
"Considering the launch was immediately after the Japan-US summit meeting was held, this is a clear provocation to Japan and the region," CNN quoted Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as saying.
Abe called the missile test "absolutely intolerable" during a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump in Florida.
According to reports, the projectile fired was an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). It flew 500 kilometers (310 miles) before crashing in the sea.
"This is clearly directed at Japan," said Carl Schuster, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.
Japan and North Korea do not have active diplomatic relations and North Korea's hostility toward Japan stems from its close relations to South Korea and the United States.
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