N. Korea Test-Fires Missile Into Sea of Japan

North Korea test-fired a short-range missile Monday as diplomats, including Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, were gathering here for the inauguration of South Korea’s new president, Roh Moo Hyun.

The test was viewed here as another calculated provocation from the regime in Pyongyang. The missile flew about 36 miles from the east coast of the Korean peninsula and splashed into the Sea of Japan. Defense analysts said it did not appear to be a multistage, long-range rocket like the one North Korea test-fired over Japan in 1998, rattling the international community.

But the timing of the test appeared to be a sign that North Korea is determined to intrude itself on the U.S. agenda as the Bush administration is highly focused on its showdown with Iraq. JoongAng Ilbo, the South Korean newspaper that broke the story, said North Korea had not test-fired such a missile for three years, and some defense experts in Seoul said it might have been even longer.

U.S. reaction was muted. The Bush administration has been trying to shrug off provocations by North Korea, which officials believe are attempts to drag the U.S. into negotiations over its nuclear program and extort aid.

A State Department official suggested the launch was probably part of routine military exercises, but Kim Tae Woo, a military expert with the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, disagreed. The missile, known as a “silkworm,” is so old it is not routinely tested, he said.

“This was clearly a warning signal. They wanted to send a message to the United States that ‘If you attack us, we can attack South Korea,’ ” Kim said.

Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported that there were two missiles fired Monday afternoon and that North Korea had notified Japan it planned another test Wednesday.

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Staff writers Sonni Efron in Seoul and Paul Richter and James Gerstenzang in Washington contributed to this report.