Kampala — PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni on Thursday hosted North Korean leader Kim Ying Nam to a State Banquet even as reports emerged that the nuclear armed nation had test fired several missiles as a show of force in a continuing standoff between Pyongyang and western nations.

Uganda supports the "right of North Korea to defend itself" and its confrontation with particularly the United States has had little impact on Kampala's own relations with America.

In a statement sent out to newsrooms, President Yoweri Museveni is quoted as having told Mr Nam that Uganda welcomed the efforts to peacefully resolve the nuclear crisis.

Mr Museveni added that Uganda also supported the efforts at peacefully reuniting the Korean peninsula. While the North Korean state visit appeared ordinary but coming on the heels of the controversial visit of Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, it will raise eyebrows within diplomatic circles.

Both North Korea and Libya are former pariah states in the West, Uganda's main development partners. While North Korea has little investment in Uganda- the country's considerable uranium deposits are a cause for discomfort to policymakers in the West.

With global diplomatic gymnastics afoot in the North Korea, Libya and the West jigsaw puzzle, it is hard to ignore a possible role for President Museveni who said he enjoys excellent relations with Kim Ill Sung -- the father of the current president, Kim Jong Il.

A checkered diplomatic history with North Korea and Libya (both supported Idi Amin, who Museveni fought in the 70's) may have little to do with present calculations.

An $8 billion Libya Africa Investment Portfolio or LAIP has current and planned investments of close to $2 billion in oil and non oil sectors in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda alone. Uganda-North Korea cooperation may follow a similar path of investment mixed with military cooperation.