Japan's Shinzo Abe says North Korea's missile launch unforgivable

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told US President Barack Obama on Monday that North Korea's missile launch was unforgivable, a Japanese government spokesman said.

Abe and Obama met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday in a defiant reminder of the risks to global security.

North Korea has tested missiles at sensitive times in the past to draw attention to its military might. But Monday's launch risks embarrassing its main ally Beijing, which has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure a smooth summit meeting in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. 

The test prompted a quick meeting between South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Hangzhou, and they agreed to cooperate on monitoring the situation, a Japanese statement said. Earlier on Monday, the leaders of South Korea and China met on the sidelines of the G20 summit and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing's commitment to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, state news agency Xinhua reported.