 YANGON - Myanmar’s (Burma’s) junta on Monday flatly denied reports that the country is working on clandestine nuclear facilities, possibly with the assistance of North Korea which has just admitted to conducting its first nuclear test. ‘Many subversive elements are making accusation against our country, but if one studies these (accusations) seriously it is clear that they are totally impossible,’ said Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, Myanmar’s minister of information.
MyanmarÂ’s diplomatic relations with North Korea were cut in 1983 after North Korean spies launched a terrorist attack on a South Korean government delegation that was visiting Yangon, formerly Rangoon. Relations have yet to be restored although there have been unverified reports of sightings of North Korean technicians and workers in Naypyidaw, the militaryÂ’s new capital, situated 300 kilometres north of Yangon.
Myanmar and North Korea share certain similarities. Both are military-run Asian countries deemed pariahs among Western democracies for their refusal to implement political reforms and for neglecting the welfare of their people.
| Both have crazy leaders, both have trouble feeding their people, both have neighbors who don't trust them ... |
Myanmar reportedly purchased a Russian a nuclear reactor in 2000, although the reactor has yet to be delivered, according to the Irrawaddy magazine in its August, 2006, edition.
| This is a country that is barely 20th Century and they want nukes. Great, just great. |
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