US Concerned over North Korea Missile Sales to Burma

By LALIT K JHA AND WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy

The United States said Thursday it would take the matter seriously if there are any indications of North Korea selling rocket launchers to Burma, though the US State Department could not confirm the report that appeared in the Japanese media on Wednesday.

“We've seen those reports, but we don't have any information that would be able to substantiate them,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters in Washington.

“Certainly, though, we would take seriously any indications that there have been violations of the various sanctions that were imposed on North Korea after its nuclear test the previous year,” Casey said.

The Japanese NHK public broadcast reported Wednesday that North Korea has been selling rocket launchers to Burma in violation of UN sanctions imposed against North Korea after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006.

Quoting the NHK report, news agencies reported the sale of rocket launchers was being handled by an unnamed Singapore trading country. No other immediate details were available however.

Htay Aung, a Burmese military researcher based in Thailand, told The Irrawaddy on Friday the Burmese military junta is seeking arms and other military equipment anywhere in the world to upgrade its Tatmadaw (armed forces).

“North Korea is one country among them,” he said. “But what we see is that Naypyidaw’s military upgrading seems to aim at external threats rather than internal ones, because the generals don’t need these kind of rockets to attack guerrilla groups. It is not useful for guerrilla warfare.”

Htay Aung added he heard that the Burmese army had set up new artillery, such as howitzers and rocket-launchers, along Burma’s eastern border. “Of course, the Royal Thai Army is scanning every footstep of the Burmese army,” Htay Aung added. “It means there is an ongoing arms race between Thailand and Burma in silence.”

Burmese-North Korean military ties are said to have been reestablished in 1999 when members of the Burmese junta paid a low-profile visit to the rogue state. The junta sent a delegation to North Korea secretly again in November 2000 for a meeting with high-ranking officials of North Korea’s the People’s Armed Forces. A North Korean delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Park Kil-yon met with his counterpart, Khin Maung Win, in June 2001.

Military analysts say the North Korean regime has provided weapons, military technology transfers and expertise in underground tunneling used for concealing secret military installations and, since 2002, dozens of North Korean technicians have worked for the Tatmadaw.

Burma and North Korea restored diplomatic ties last year ending a diplomatic crisis after North Korean special agents assassinated 18 South Korean officials, including four cabinet ministers, who were on a delegation to Burma in 1983.