MONTEREY, Calif. -- On the eve of South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's swearing-in ceremony, North Korea lobbed a land-to-ship cruise missile into the Sea of Japan. This provocation took place as the world's dignitaries -- among them U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen -- arrived in Seoul to welcome Roh's inauguration.
North Korea's missile test was an affront to South Korea, whose outgoing President Kim Dae Jung had pursued a "sunshine" policy toward the North during his term in office. It is worth remembering that Pyongyang has in the past sought to distract, disrupt and diminish the South's achievements through various tactics out of jealousy, desperation or both. In November 1987, 10 months before the 24th Olympic Games were to be held in South Korea, two North Korean agents planted a powerful bomb on Korean Air Lines flight 858, killing all 115 people on board.
However, the North's defiance and unsolicited provocation this time makes a mockery of Roh's pledge for "peace and prosperity" in inter-Korea relations. It highlights the challenges the international community faces in breaking the nuclear stalemate, and raises serious questions about the strategy the U.S. has pursued in response to North Korea's steadily escalating tactics.