North Korea's latest ballistic missile test triggered swift condemnation Sunday from the international community as the hermit nation's move challenges President Trump in his first month in office.

South Korea’s defense ministry quickly charged in a statement that Kim Jong Un’s missile launch — probably a medium- or intermediate-range missile — was “aimed at drawing global attention to the North by boasting its nuclear and missile capabilities.”
President Donald Trump listen as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (out of frame) speaks at ...more
NICHOLAS KAMM, AFP/Getty Images

"It is also believed that it was an armed provocation to test the response from the new U.S. administration under President Trump," the defense ministry said.

The launch came as Trump was hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump and Abe made a joint appearance Saturday night to condemn the launch just hours after the missile test was confirmed, with Abe calling it "absolutely intolerable."

Trump, in his brief statement with Abe, said only “that the United States of America stands behind Japan, it's great ally, 100%." But the president's policy adviser, Stephen Miller, told Fox News Sunday that Trump is sending an “unmistakable signal to North Korea and to the entire world."

Miller said Trump is determined to "reinforce and strengthen our vital alliances in the Pacific region as part of our strategy to deter and prevent the increasing hostility that we've seen in recent years from the North Korean regime."

North Korea fires missile as tensions rise

David Straub, who headed the State Department's office of Korean affairs from 2002 to 2004, said Trump’s comments while next to Abe were puzzling for their lack of substance, particularly after he strongly criticized Kim's talk last month about testing an intercontinental ballistic missile.

“It looked both weak and incompetent,” Straub said in an interview. “Here he is standing beside Prime Minister Abe, and he says ‘We are standing 100% behind our allies in Japan.’ Well, the most affected by this is our allies in South Korea, and he didn’t say a word about South Korea. It’s an incredible omission, and it will be noted by the South Koreans.”