North Korea's latest missile launch was the "most provocative," intended to send a message to the United States and intimidate Japan, former White House national security aide Sebastian Gorka said Tuesday.
"There have been three missile overflights of Japanese territory," Gorka told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "One [was] in '98. There was 2009. This is the third. But the big difference here is that this is a military ballistic missile; they were for payload delivery of satellites. This is, again, ratcheting up provocation in a way we just don't need on the peninsula."
The missile flew about 1,600 miles, leaving questions about whether North Korea can reach Guam.
"They have made statements," said Gorka. "They have threatened Guam. They have constantly threatened the United States. This isn't just about intimidating Japan, one of our key allies in the region. This is also about sending a message to the United States."
Gorka, whose left the White House last week, said he is not at liberty to talk about discussions the administration held with South Korea while he was there.
"Missile defense is a topic that, of course, came up with the government of South Korea," he said. "But, there are many other options. Also in the more covert side of things. You have seen a lot of missile tests fail. Most tests actually fail. Sometimes there may be reasons beyond just incompetence [in] North Korea for those missile tests."
Trump said Tuesday that all options are on the table when it comes to North Korea, but Gorka said the United States does not want to escalate the situation.
"We are very close to [Japan's] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe on these issues," said Gorka. "But, again, because of proximity, because of leverage, it is always going to return to the question of how does China react, and the words that are coming out of Beijing right now are very, very, very strong."