| I know, slightly off the topic .
BBC NEWS Tuesday, 25 February, 2003, 02:14 GMT
North Korea fires missile into sea
The missile firing overshadowed the inauguration
North Korea has fired a missile into the sea between Japan and the Korean peninsula just hours before South Korea's new president was sworn into office.
The missile was fired into international waters of the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean defence ministry officials.
President Roh Moo-hyun took his oath of office in Seoul on Tuesday.
Foreign dignitaries including US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi are attending ceremony.
Tense stand-off
There is still confusion about the kind of missile fired and what the motivation for the firing was.
"We are trying to determine whether it was designed to test a new missile or just part of an exercise by North Korea troops," an official told the AFP news agency.
North Korea has had a moratorium on testing long-range missiles since 1998.
That was introduced following widespread international alarm when Pyongyang's military fired a multi-stage rocket over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea has tested missiles before
North Korea is already embroiled in a tense stand-off with international opponents, led by the US, who are concerned at the hard-line communist state's apparent moves towards a nuclear weapons programme.
In recent months the US has voiced increasing frustration at what it sees as the unpredictable behaviour of the country and its ruler, Kim Jong-Il.
However Russia, one of Pyongyang's few allies, immediately played down the test's significance, saying it was just military preparation.
"I don't think it is some kind of provocation or action in general against the whole situation," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told the Reuters news agency.
Low-key event
President Roh, who wants to engage his country's northern neighbour in dialogue, has expressed concern at tough US rhetoric against Pyongyang.
His inauguration ceremony was already due to be a low-key event, following last week's horrific fire on a subway in the South Korean city of Daegu, which killed at least 133 people.
Events surrounding the official ceremony - which takes place on Tuesday morning outside the National Assembly - have been scaled down as a mark of respect to those who died.
Kim Jong-Il is an unpredictable leader
Within hours of his inauguration, he is due to hold talks with the US Secretary of State on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Mr Roh does not agree with Washington's policy of isolating the North and has publicly said he opposes the use of force to resolve the nuclear crisis.
Anti-US feeling
"If we give them what they desperately want - regime security, normal treatment and economic assistance - they will be willing to give up their nuclear ambitions," Mr Roh has told Newsweek magazine.
Mr Roh was swept to election victory on a wave of anti-US protests, and has called for a review of the status of the 37,000 American troops in the country, although he has stressed that he is not anti-American.
On the domestic front, Mr Roh - a former pro-labour human rights lawyer - has promised widespread economic and social reforms.
But his party does not have a parliamentary majority and he could find it hard to push through his reformist agenda | |
