Yoon Suk Yeol was sworn in as South Korea's new president on Tuesday, and the leader of the nation's first conservative government in five years used his inaugural speech to say the door for dialogue with North Korea was open despite the North's increasing missile activities.

"I stand before you today, humbled by the trust and responsibility that you have given me and mindful of my solemn duty to rebuild this great nation," Yoon said at the National Assembly compound in Seoul.

He underscored the importance of the value of freedom and sustainable peace, while emphasizing dialogue with North Korea to peacefully resolve the "threats" posed by the country.

"While North Korea's nuclear weapon programs are a threat not only to our security and that of Northeast Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can peacefully resolve this threat," Yoon said, adding that the denuclearization will contribute to sustainable peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

"If North Korea genuinely embarks on a process to complete denuclearization, we are prepared to work with the international community to present an audacious plan that will vastly strengthen North Korea's economy and improve the quality of life for its people," he said.

Among the foreign guests attending the ceremony were U.S. second gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

From China, Vice President Wang Qishan is attending as President Xi Jinping's "special representative." Wang is one of the highest-ranking Chinese officials ever to attend a South Korean presidential inauguration.

Yoon, 61, was the nation's top prosecutor before quitting in March 2021 after a bitter clash with the progressive government of President Moon Jae In over its prosecutorial reform drive, which he opposed.

Yoon subsequently turned his sights on the presidency and, as the main opposition party nominee, he went on to beat a rival candidate from Moon's party in the March election by a narrow margin.

Under Yoon, who has favored stronger ties with the United States and taken a hard-line stance toward North Korea, Seoul's policy toward Pyongyang is expected to make a sharp turn from rapprochement to one based on pressure.

In talks with the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, Yoon is expected to reaffirm the South Korea-U.S. alliance at a time of heightened tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula following rounds of missile tests by the North in recent months.

The new president is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden when the U.S. leader visits South Korea from May 20 before traveling to Japan.

Japan's Hayashi is expected to hand Yoon a personal letter from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Expectations have grown in Tokyo for better ties with Seoul under the new president and closer security cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea.

Japan-South Korea ties worsened over the last five years under the Moon government, due largely to issues stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the peninsula, including wartime labor.

Seoul had hoped Kishida would attend the inaugural ceremony, but Tokyo decided that he could not go without any guarantee of making progress on outstanding disputes, according to Japanese government sources.

From Japan, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is also attending.

Domestically, Yoon will be presiding over a nation in the midst of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and under strain because of economic disparities and skyrocketing housing prices, particularly in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Yoon's government is believed to face difficulties legislating policies in the National Assembly as his party finds itself in the minority. One of its immediate challenges will be winning in local elections and parliamentary by-elections in June.

For the post of prime minister, Yoon has picked Han Duck Soo, who has previously served as premier under both conservative and progressive administrations. But with no firm prospect of swift parliamentary consent, concerns have grown over a possible delay in launching a Cabinet.

As the main opposition People Power Party candidate, Yoon secured a narrow win in the March 9 election against the ruling Democratic Party's Lee Jae Myung.

Yoon has since pushed plans to relocate the presidential office from the Blue House to the Defense Ministry compound so as to be away from the "symbol of imperial power" and closer to the public.

He is set to work from the new location from Tuesday, and the sprawling hillside complex known locally as Cheong Wa Dae is set to open to the public from noon.

In South Korea, a president serves a single five-year term.

==Kyodo