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<hh1>[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burma's Nuke Ambitions an Opportunity for Obama[/FONT] </hh1> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By HTET AUNG</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Saturday, June 5, 2010 <!-- , --> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot">
<table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> COMMENTS (0)</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (14)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> E-MAIL</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> PRINT</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> TEXT SIZE
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275983251&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fopinion_story.php%3Fart_id%3D18637&dt=1275983257777&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275983256389&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275980800&ga_hid=70208921&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearch_key%3Dnuclear%26btn_advance_search%3DSearch%2Bagain&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=4&xpc=X9OwSNJtCv&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Burma will definitely become the first nuclear power in Southeast Asia if the world gives the country's ruling generals a free hand to pursue their secret ambitions.
On Friday, the Al Jazeera news network broadcast a documentary film detailing the latest shocking evidence of Burma's bid to become a nuclear-armed nation. Produced by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, the documentary features extensive documentation, including photos and blueprints of tunnels and suspected nuclear facilities.
Sai Thein Win, a former major in the Burmese army who studied nuclear and missile technologies in Russia and was involved in Burma’s secret nuclear plan, defected with these important documents earlier this year. They offer the most compelling evidence yet of a threat that the international community can no longer afford to ignore.
The emergence of another paranoid dictatorship with nukes is the last thing the world needs. For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), it is especially alarming, as it undoes a longstanding commitment to keep the region free of nuclear weapons.
It was just seven months ago that US President Barack Obama attended the first Asean-US summit in Singapore. On that occasion, his regional counterparts (including Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein, who was able to attend because of Obama's newly announced engagement policy) applauded his nuclear disarmament efforts.
In a joint statement, the Asean leaders said they “welcomed the efforts of the President of the United States in promoting international peace and security including the vision of a nuclear weapons free world.”
The statement continued: “We are convinced that the establishment of a Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone will contribute towards global nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation and peace and security in the region.”
Now that it is clear, however, that Burma doesn't sincerely share this vision of the region's future, it is time for the international community to get serious about addressing a security threat that grows more ominous with each new revelation.
One area of particular concern is Burma's ties with North Korea. An alliance has been forming between these two rogue states for several years, and it is becoming increasingly clear that cooperation on nuclear weapons development is one of the cornerstones of their relationship.
Responding to the evidence presented in the Al Jazeera/DVB documentary, Geoff Morrell, a spokesperson for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said the US was concerned about Burma's “growing military ties with the DPRK [North Korea],” but did not comment directly on the nuclear allegations.
He did, however, raise the issue of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) that forbid weapons trading with North Korea.
“[We] are following it closely to ensure that the multiple UNSCRs are enforced,” he said.
The US has good reason to be “concerned.” North Korea's acquisition of nuclear weapons has significantly heightened tensions in East Asia, and a failure to prevent the spread of North Korean weapons technology to Southeast Asia could seriously undermine security there as well.
That is why the Obama administration must take Burma off the back burner and make it one of its foreign policy priorities in the region.
It could start by pushing China and Russia, the Burmese regime's two staunchest defenders in the UN Security Council, to start cooperating with its efforts to take the junta to task for its multiple violations of international norms.
The US already has its priorities straight on Burma, focusing largely on the issues of democracy and human rights, but it could do more to get other countries on board with its targeted sanctions against the ruling generals and their partners in crime.
The Obama administration should act quickly to punish the regime for its clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 1874, which was passed unanimously a year ago to condemn North Korea's nuclear weapons testing. If it doesn't, Southeast Asia could become the next region to face a nuclear menace.

 

<hh1>[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Alarm Bells Ring Over New Nuclear Evidence[/FONT] </hh1> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By YENI</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Sunday, June 6, 2010 <!-- , --> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot">
<table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> COMMENTS (0)</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (12)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> E-MAIL</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> PRINT</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> TEXT SIZE
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> An hour-long documentary film on Burma's nuclear ambitions and tunnel-building program has reawakened alarm throughout the region about the Burmese regime's military relationship with North Korea.
The film was made by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and broadcast recently by Al Jazeera.[See full coverage]
<table style="width: 47px; height: 235px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">Yeni is news editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at yeni@irrawaddy.org.
<hr></td></tr></tbody></table>Its contents were cause for particular concern within the Association for Southeast Asian Nations, which has reached an agreement for a nuclear weapons-free zone,
One expert, Robert E. Kelley, a retired senior UN nuclear inspector, said that although the film depicted “unrealistic attempts” by the Burmese regime to attain a nuclear capability “success may be beyond Burma’s reach.”
Nevertheless, Kelley said, “the intent is clear and that is a very disturbing matter for international agreements.”
The main witness in the DVB film is a young Burmese military specialist on rocket engines, who left Burma in February with highly sensitive information purporting to show that Burma has acquired components for a nuclear weapons program, including technology for uranium enrichment and long-range missiles, with the help of North Korea.
The defector, Sai Thein Win, also brought fresh evidence that DVB says shows the construction of a secret network of hidden bunkers and tunnels across the country.
In the DVB film, he and other defectors also reveal bunkers alleged to be used as secret military storage facilities and command centers in case of aerial attacks. Some tunnels are marked as substations for fiber optic cables which the report says are part of a plan to provide the military with a secure nationwide communications network.
Experts suggest that the total cost of the secret programs could run into billions of US dollars—a huge outlay that the regime can nevertheless raise through an expected increase in energy revenues.
A study by the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace said Burma's export earnings from the country's growing energy sector will double in the next five years, due mainly to oil and gas transit pipelines now being built from Burma to China. Burma’s earnings from gas exports represented at least 45 percent of its US $6.6 billion income in 2008.
Burma's military regime is infamous for spending a large percentage of its national budget on the military, rather than on education, health and other public services.
While 40 to 60 percent of the national budget is allocated to the military, the Burmese people have to struggle daily with a highly inefficient public services sector.
For instance, Burma’s central economic-administrative corridor between Rangoon and Naypyidaw, via Mandalay, suffers severe electricity shortages. Business owners in Burma complain they may have to shut down because of the decision by the state power authority to halt supplies to industrial users owing to the lack of water to drive hydropower plant turbines.
Despite its impressive store of natural resources, Burma remains one of the world's poorest countries. Its average 2.9 percent annual growth rate is the lowest in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Disenchantment with the hardships of life under the regime is likely to have contributed to the defection of several Burmese military officers such as Sai Thein Win.
Consequently, there was no major military reshuffle in Naypyidaw in the recent four-monthly meeting ahead of this year's planned general election.
The lack of a reshuffle is also a signal that junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, 77, his No 2, vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, 72, and other aging top generals may not retire from their military posts in the near future because of growing doubts about the loyalty of younger officers.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Thein Sein and several government ministers recently resigned their military positions to found a political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, to contest the upcoming regime-controlled election.
Despite the maneuvers by the top generals to keep hold of the reins of power, some so-called experts believe naively the election will change Burma’s political landscape.

The latest briefing by one leading global think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), said the election would be “the best opportunity in a generation to influence the future direction of the country.”
The ICG should ask the voters—including military personnel and their family members who voted overwhelmingly for the opposition National League for Democracy in the 1990 election—whether they will be free to cast their votes as they wish this time around.
Sai Thein Win has made his own position clear. The DVB Web site says that he went public with the information he had on Burma's nuclear ambitions because he wanted to help stop what he sees as “a dangerous, badly organized and expensive waste.”

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Opposition Laments Nuclear Program Effort[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By SAW YAN NAING</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Monday, June 7, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (0)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (12)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> The Burmese junta's apparent intent to develop a nuclear weapons program is a tragic waste of badly needed money which should be used for the welfare of the people, say opposition political leaders.

Several opposition politicians, ethnic leaders, and rebel army leaders said on Monday the military government should use the national budget for education, health, economic and other developmental programs instead of prioritizing a nuclear weapons program when, in fact, the country is under no immediate or long-term threat.
<table style="width: 196px; height: 54px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">This satellite image shows the Defense Services Technological Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin, or Maymyo, Burma. A high-level defector from Burma's armed forces says the ruling junta is attempting to develop a nuclear bomb with the help of North Korea. (Source: DVB)</td></tr></tbody></table>Critics said large sums of income earned from the sale of natural resources should be shared with the people for the benefit of the country. The comments came after new evidence surfaced about the government's nuclear ambitions, disclosed by a Burmese missile expert, Maj Sai Thein Win, who defected.
Rangoon-based veteran politician Chan Htun, who served as the Burmese ambassador to China, said that the generals are strengthening the armed forces because they don't want to be inferior to powerful nations.
Chan Htun said, however, “It isn't enough to strengthen the military alone. The livelihood of civilians also need to be improved. Social and economic areas need to be improved.”
Burma's military regime is infamous for spending a large percentage of its national budget on the military, rather than on education, health and other public services. According to Burma military experts, 40 to 60 percent of the national budget is allocated to the military.
In contrast, 0.4 percent of the budget is spent on healthcare, while 0.5 percent is spent on education, according to a report released in 2007 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank based in London.
Aye Thar Aung, an Arakanese politician who is chair of the Arakan League for Democracy, said, “To hold power firmly, Burmese generals think that it will be safer for them if they have nuclear weapons.”
However, he said there is no threat of invasion from neighboring countries or powerful nations.
Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the Shan State Army–South, an ethnic rebel group, said developing a nuclear program only wastes badly need funds that come mainly from the sale of natural resources.
“I was shocked and wondered why they wanted nuclear weapons while many people and ethnic groups live in poverty,” he said. “They can't use these weapons to attack ethic rebels. It will only be a threat to the regional and international community.”
The government's annual budget stems mostly from the sale of natural gas, logging, mining and hydro-electric power. Rice export is also a main source of national income.
According to a study by the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace, Burma's export earnings from the energy sector will double in the next five years, due mainly to oil and gas transit pipelines now being built across Burma to China's Yunnan Province.
The institute said the calculation is based on energy exports—mostly gas—accounting for at least 45 percent of the $6.6 billion earnings in 2008.
A retired Mon army chief, Nai Kao Rot, who is a former colonel in the New Mon State Party said, “We are unhappy...that they don't share the benefits with ethnic people, but only strengthen their military.”
Zipporah Sein, the general-secretary of the Karen National Union, said, “We believe that if Burma really has nuclear ambitions, it will be a threat to the international community. The nuclear program is meant to entrench the Burmese junta in power, and will be of no benefit to the people.”

 

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[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Junta Constructing Tunnel in Magway[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By YAN PAING</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Friday, June 4, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (6)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (13)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> The Burmese military regime is constructing a tunnel in Rakhine Yoma, some 80 km west of Padan Township in Magway Division, local sources said.
The tunnel is 50 feet wide and 50 feet high, a worker from the project said, and is being supervised by North Korean technicians.
<table style="width: 173px; height: 144px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 10px;"><table style="width: 176px; height: 140px;" align="left" bgcolor="#f0f4f5" border="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 10px 10px 5px;" class="table_border1" align="middle"> <center>Slide Show (View)</center></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>“Only cars which are authorized by the local army can enter the project area,” he said. “The tunnel is quite long and when they dynamite the tunnel, people have just 30 minutes to get outside.”Another worker said that the new tunnel is connected to several other tunnels that are burrowed into the mountainside.
Workers such as carpenters and welders work in day and night shifts, and earn 900 kyat (US $0.90) per shift at the site, the worker said.


On Friday, fresh evidence of the regime constructing a secret network of hidden bunkers and tunnels across the country surfaced. According to an investigative film by an exiled Burmese broadcaster, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which was aired by Al Jazeera on Friday, some tunnels are marked as substations for fiber optic cables and are part of a plan to provide the military with a secure nationwide communications network.


“They are constructing a tunnel ... a huge tunnel. Many tunnels all over the country,” said Sai Thein Win—a former defense engineer and missile expert who recently defected from the army—in the film.



The documentary also revealed bunkers alleged to be used as secret military storage facilities and command centers in case of aerial attacks.


When Ne Win’s socialist government was in power in the 1980s and 90s, a series of defense and military equipment factories were built between the Irrawaddy River and Rakhine Yoma, and in Htone Bo, Nyaung Chay Htauk and Ma Lon. The factories are connected with the Pathein- Monywa highway. Padan is also located near the Pathein- Monywa highway with easy access to the strategic Min Bu– Amm highway.
No transparent plans or records exist that describe the tunnel project, nor whether it is for military or economic purposes.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, a source from Naypyidaw’s military community said, “There are a lot of secret military projects in Minn Done, Padan, Pwint Phyu, Say Tote Taya, Salin, Pakkoku, Laung Shay, Saw and on the western side of Seik Phyu Township.”


He continued: “When the current telecommunications minister, Maj-Gen Thein Zaw, was chairman of Magway Division, he planned to extract uranium with Col Zaw Minn, the commander of 88 Command in Saku.”


He said the military regime also has plans to construct munitions factories in Bago Yoma, Naypyidaw, Natt Mauk, Aung Lan and Pauk Khaung.
Sai Thein Win told the DVB that he has shown the secret files from the project to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In November 2008, a Burmese military delegation led by Gen Shwe Mann flew secretly to North Korea and met the army-in-chief, Gen Kim Kyok-sik. They agreed terms of cooperation on several military initiatives, including radar and jamming units, air defense systems, and a computer-controlled command center. The delegation also visited North Korean SCUD missile factories which are located in the tunnels.



The two countries signed an agreement that North Korea will help in the construction of military facilities for missiles, aircraft and war ships.
Further evidence of cooperation between the two countries surfaced in June 2009 when a ship from North Korea en route to Burma was suspected of carried weapons. International media agencies broadcast footage and photos of the Burmese regime's network of tunnels and claimed they were part of an underground nuclear bunker.


The Irrawaddy reporter Ba Kaung contributed to this article.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Evidence Points to Burma's Nuclear Weapons 'Intent'[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By SIMON ROUGHNEEN</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Friday, June 4, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (5)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (22)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> BANGKOK—There are regional and international security implications arising out of fresh evidence that Burma is seeking nuclear weapons and is in breach of a UN arms embargo on North Korea.
Referencing the nuclear issue, US Sen. Jim Webb on Thursday canceled his scheduled trip to Burma.
<table style="width: 171px; height: 50px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">Burmese soldiers carry flags as they march during the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyidaw in March. (Photo: Reuters)</td></tr></tbody></table>“It would be inappropriate and counter-productive for me to go at this time,” Webb told journalists at a Thursday press conference in Bangkok. While the substance of the nuclear issue and the potential breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1874 remain to be clarified, Webb said, “There is enough for now in these two allegations, which need to be resolved,” before he could reconsider going to Burma.While allegations about a junta nuclear weapons program have emerged in the past, the latest reports are backed by documentation and photographs supplied by Burmese army defector Maj Sai Thein Win. A news documentary about the issue ran on Al-Jazeera today and is based on work carried out by the Democratic Voice of Burma news agency. Sai Thein Win had to flee Burma after superiors suspected that information about missile-building and uranium enrichment programs were being leaked. He says “that they really want to build a bomb, they want rockets and nuclear warheads.”
American nuclear scientist Robert Kelley, a former director in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the international nuclear watchdog, said he spent months examining the material supplied by Sai Thein Win and concluded that the projects outlined in the material are “useful only for weapons.”
In an overview published on the DVB website, Kelley said: “The total picture is very compelling. Burma is trying to build pieces of a nuclear program, specifically a nuclear reactor to make plutonium and a uranium enrichment program. Burma has a close partnership with North Korea.”
The seven-member UN panel monitoring the implementation of sanctions against North Korea said in a report last week that Pyongyang is involved in banned nuclear and ballistic activities in Iran, Syria and Burma.
After an early May visit to Burma, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Kurt Campbell, said that the junta leadership had agree to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1874, but that "recent developments" called into question its commitment. He said he sought the junta's agreement to "a transparent process to assure the international community that Burma is abiding by its international commitments."
"Without such a process, the United States maintains the right to take independent action within the relevant frameworks established by the international community," he said.
Whether or not the Burmese regime has the know-how to actually realize its apparent nuclear ambitions is another issue. According to Kelley, “Nothing we have seen suggests Burma will be successful with the materials and component we have seen.”
Speaking to Al-Jazeera, other nuclear experts such as John Isaacs, who is executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said that there is not yet “actual proof” of what the regime is trying to do.
However, the documentation assessed by Kelley suggest intent on the part of the junta. The regime has not signed the IAEA's Additional Protocol, meaning that the agency has not power to set up an inspection of Burma's nuclear facilities under the existing mechanism known as the Small Quantities Protocol.
The hour-long Al-Jazeera/DVB report gave details of a nationwide labyrinth of underground tunnels, believed to be shelters for the military in the event of an attack from outside or demonstrations at home. The total cost of the tunnels, built in collaboration with North Korean military advisers, is estimated in the range of US $3 billion.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burma's Nuclear Ambitions 'Threaten Regional Security'[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By WAI MOE </td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Friday, June 4, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (8)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (43)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275983779&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D18628&dt=1275983780890&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275983780592&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275980800&ga_hid=2047013823&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearch_key%3Dnuclear%26btn_advance_search%3DSearch%2Bagain&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=13&xpc=3L0sO1rLQV&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> The Burmese junta’s ambition to become a nuclear power is a threat to regional security, according to a documentary by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which alleges that Naypyidaw is developing nuclear weapons and a missiles system with help from North Korea.
Quoting experts and defectors, the documentary, which was aired by Al Jazeera on Friday, said that if the junta achieves its goal, Burmese missiles could target neighboring countries, as well as threatening US military activities in the Indian Ocean.
Burmese army defector Maj Sai Thein Win, who is a missiles expert, said the junta is constructing nuclear and missiles facilities at at least two sites in Magwe and Mandalay divisions in central Burma.
“They [the junta] really want a [nuclear] bomb. That is their main objective,” said Sai Thein Win in the documentary. “They want to have rockets and nuclear warheads.”
Burma's relationship with North Korea is expected to be a hot topic at the 9th Asian Security Summit, also known as the “Shangri-La Dialogue,” which is being held on June 4-6 in Singapore. The US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is scheduled to attend the annual summit along with representatives from 26 countries, including Maj-Gen Aye Myint, the deputy defense minister of Burma. Gates is expected to raise the issue at the summit.
Following the latest allegations, Gates’ press secretary said the US is closely monitoring the junta’s cooperation with Pyongyang.
“We are concerned with [Burma’s] growing military ties with the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and are following it closely to ensure that the multiple UNSCRs [UN Security Council Resolutions] are enforced,” Press Secretary Geoff Morrell reportedly told Agence France-Presse by e-mail. The Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874 ban all North Korean arms exports.
However, Burmese Minister of Science and Technology U Thaung told a US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell that while acknowledging that the Burmese government had publicly announced its agreement to comply with UN Security Council resolutions, it also has “the duty to maintain and protect national sovereignty.”
Sai Thein Win said the secret project sites for the junta’s weapons are in Myaing, a town in Magwe Division, and Pyin Oo Lwin, also known as Maymyo, which is in Mandalay Division. The projects are under the command of the Directorate of Defense Service Science and Technology Research Center, but also involves U Thaung's Ministry of Science and Technology, said Sai Thein Winn.
Bases on statements from the defector, Robert Kelley, a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the DVB: “Our analysis leads to only one conclusion: this technology is only for nuclear weapons, and not civilian use or nuclear power.”
Sai Thein Win told DVB that two companies in Singapore with German connections sold machinery to Burma’s Department of Technical and Vocational Education, which covers any missiles programs in the country.
Photos which were brought to Thailand by Sai Thein Win show German technicians working at the junta’s sites and even some officials from the Burmese embassy in Germany visiting a machinery-producing factory.
Kelley said in his analysis that although the German machinery was “very expensive and capable, they were sold without all of the accessories to make the ... parts required for many missile and nuclear applications.”
The DVB documentary adds to the growing evidence over the junta’s development of nuclear technology, in particular to a 2009 report by Australian Desmond Ball.
Quoting Burmese defectors, Ball said the Burmese armed forces established a “nuclear battalion” in 2000 whose operational base includes an underground complex in the mountains southwest of Naung Laing, near Pyin Oo Lwin, where the regime is reportedly constructing a nuclear reactor.
With North Korea's aid, the reactor in Naung Laing could be completed around 2012, and Burma could develop its first deliverable nuclear weapons by 2020, he said in the report.

 

<hh1>[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burma-North Korea Ties Worry the World[/FONT] </hh1> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By ANDREW SELTH</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Wednesday, May 19, 2010 <!-- , --> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot">
<table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> COMMENTS (6)</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (29)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> E-MAIL</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> PRINT</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> TEXT SIZE
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275984407&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fopinion_story.php%3Fart_id%3D18498&dt=1275984409143&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275984408985&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275980800&ga_hid=943035794&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearch_key%3Dnuclear%26btn_advance_search%3DSearch%2Bagain&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=12&xpc=GxqW9aTuXP&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> For the past 10 years, Burma has been accused of trying to acquire a nuclear weapon. A number of developments during this period—notably Burma’s growing relationship with North Korea—have raised international concerns. Yet, to date, no hard evidence of such a plan has been produced.
Claims of a secret nuclear weapons program date back to 2000, when Burma’s military government announced that it was going to purchase a small research reactor from Russia. These accusations were repeated in 2003, when it was suggested by a respected news magazine that North Korea had taken over from Russia as the source of Burma’s nuclear technology. In the years that followed, the issue resurfaced periodically on activist Web sites, but in August 2009 it attracted global attention when a story appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald citing Australia National University professor Des Ball and the Thai-based journalist Phil Thornton.
The SMH claimed that there were in fact two nuclear projects running in Burma. The first was the Russian research center, which was to be operated under international safeguards. (Contrary to the SMH story, construction of this reactor has not yet begun). The second was said to be a secret project to build a reactor and associated nuclear fuel processing plants with North Korean help. According to the SMH, if all went according to plan Burma would have a nuclear weapon by 2014 and “a handful” of such devices by 2020. The main sources for these claims were two Burmese “defectors” and commercial satellite imagery of suspect facilities in Burma.
Needless to say, such claims have been the subject of close scrutiny by the United States and other governments. There have also been comprehensive studies of the issue by think tanks like the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.
The US government has expressed its concern about the defense ties that appear to have developed between Burma and North Korea over the past decade. These links reportedly include the sale of conventional arms to Burma, North Korean help with the development of Burma’s defense infrastructure (including the construction of various underground facilities), assistance to Burma’s arms industries and training in fields like air defense. In 2004, the US blocked the sale of North Korean short-range ballistic missiles to Burma.
The Obama administration has also stated its wish to discuss a number of proliferation issues with Burma, including the possible transfer of nuclear technology from North Korea. Significantly, however, at no time has the US government stated that Burma is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon, with or without North Korean help. Indeed, despite considerable pressure from members of Congress, activists and journalists, Washington has refused to be drawn on the subject. Its position seems to reflect either a belief that Burma does not have a secret nuclear weapons program, or a lack of hard evidence to support such a claim.
This approach has been shared by other countries, including Britain and Australia, both of which have referred only to “unconfirmed” reports of a secret nuclear program. For their part, the IISS and ISIS have both stated that there is insufficient evidence to support the claims. The IISS, for example, said in late 2009 that Burma “has no known capabilities that would lend themselves to a nuclear weapons program.”
Even so, both governments and think tanks remain suspicious of Burma’s intentions, and point to a number of factors which they believe warrant continuing close attention.
Of all Southeast Asian countries, Burma has the strongest strategic rationale for a nuclear weapons program. Since the abortive pro-democracy uprising in 1988, the military government has feared armed intervention by the United States and its allies. The regime has also suffered from economic sanctions and other punitive measures. Burma’s generals envy North Korea’s ability to resist such pressures and still win concessions from the international community. They reportedly believe that this influence derives from Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons.
In addition, Burma has for some years been working closely with two North Korean trading entities that have a record of proliferating sensitive nuclear and missile technologies. Also, Burma has imported a number of sophisticated machines and items of dual-use equipment from Europe and Japan that could conceivably be used in a nuclear program. The number of Burmese sent to Russia for nuclear-related training seems to be more than that required for a peaceful research program. Furthermore, some of the claims made by the “defectors” are plausible.
None of these factors in themselves prove that Burma has embarked on a nuclear weapons program.

 

<table background="" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> The Burmese junta’s No.3 Gen Shwe Mann (left) and North Korean counterpart Gen Kim Kyok-sik sign a memorandum of understanding at the defense ministry in Pyongyang in November 2008. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]North Korea Exporting Nuke Technology to Burma: UN Experts[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By EDITH M. LEDERER/ AP Writer</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Friday, May 28, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (2)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (21)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275984404&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D18575&dt=1275984406071&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275984405926&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275980800&ga_hid=1643475291&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=956&bih=485&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearch_key%3Dnuclear%26btn_advance_search%3DSearch%2Bagain&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=26&xpc=MkfRtUdqGr&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> UNITED NATIONS — North Korea is exporting nuclear and ballistic missile technology and using multiple intermediaries, shell companies and overseas criminal networks to circumvent U.N. sanctions, U.N. experts said in a report obtained by The Associated Press.
The seven-member panel monitoring the implementation of sanctions against North Korea said its research indicates that Pyongyang is involved in banned nuclear and ballistic activities in Iran, Syria and Burma. It called for further study of these suspected activities and urged all countries to try to prevent them.
The 47-page report, obtained late Thursday by AP, and a lengthy annex document, details sanctions violations reported by U.N. member states, including four cases involving arms exports and two seizures of luxury goods by Italy — two yachts and high-end recording and video equipment. The report also details the broad range of techniques that North Korea is using to try to evade sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council after its two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Council diplomats discussed the report by the experts from Britain, Japan, the United States, France, South Korea, Russia and China at a closed-door meeting on Thursday.
Its release happened to coincide with heightened tensions between North Korea and South Korea over the March sinking of a South Korean navy ship which killed 46 sailors. The council is waiting for South Korea to decide what action it wants the U.N.'s most powerful body to take in response to the sinking, which a multinational investigation determined was caused by a North Korean torpedo.
The panel of experts said there is general agreement that the U.N. embargoes on nuclear and ballistic missile related items and technology, on arms exports and imports except light weapons, and on luxury goods, are having an impact.
But it said the list of eight entities and five individuals currently subject to an asset freeze and travel ban seriously understates those known to be engaged in banned activities and called for additional names to be added. It noted that North Korea moved quickly to have other companies take over activities of the eight banned entities.
The experts said an analysis of the four North Korean attempts to illegally export arms revealed that Pyongyang used "a number of masking techniques" to avoid sanctions. They include providing false descriptions and mislabeling of the contents of shipping containers, falsifying the manifest and information about the origin and destination of the goods, "and use of multiple layers of intermediaries, shell companies, and financial institutions," the panel said.
It noted that a chartered jet intercepted in Thailand in December carrying 35 tons of conventional weapons including surface-to-air missiles from North Korea was owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates, registered in Georgia, leased to a shell company registered in New Zealand and then chartered to another shell company registered in Hong Kong — which may have been an attempt to mask its destination.
North Korea is also concealing arms exports by shipping components in kits for assembly overseas, the experts said.
As one example, the panel said it learned after North Korean military equipment was seized at Durban harbor in South Africa that scores of technicians from the North had gone to the Republic of Congo, where the equipment was to have been assembled.
The experts called for "extra vigilance" at the first overseas port handling North Korean cargo and close monitoring of airplanes flying from the North, saying Pyongyang is believed to use air cargo "to handle high valued and sensitive arms exports."
While North Korea maintains a wide network of trade offices which do legitimate business as well as most of the country's illicit trade and covert acquisitions, the panel said Pyongyang "has also established links with overseas criminal networks to carry out these activities, including the transportation and distribution of illicit and smuggled cargoes."
This may also include goods related to weapons of mass destruction and arms, it added.
Under council resolutions, all countries are required to submit reports on what they are doing to implement sanctions but as of April 30 the panel said it had still not heard from 112 of the 192 U.N. member states — including 51 in Africa, 28 in Asia, and 25 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
While no country reported on nuclear or ballistic missile-related imports or exports from North Korea since the second sanctions resolution was adopted last June, the panel said it reviewed several U.S.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Analysis: Attack May Be Tied to North Korean Succession[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By JEAN H. LEE / AP Writer</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Saturday, May 29, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275984398&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D18580&dt=1275984399826&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275984399497&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275980800&ga_hid=2084986658&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearch_key%3Dnuclear%26btn_advance_search%3DSearch%2Bagain&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=13&xpc=jHu8MEAkR8&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Young, inexperienced and virtually unknown even at home, Kim Jong Un needs at least a few political victories under his belt if he is to succeed his father as leader of communist North Korea.
The sinking of a South Korean warship may well have provided Kim Jong Il's 20-something son and rumored heir with a victory that would bolster his support within the communist country's military, a million-man force in need of a boost after a November sea battle left one North Korean sailor dead.
North Korea has vehemently denied involvement in the torpedo attack that sank the Cheonan near the Koreas' sea border in March, killing 46 sailors in one of the boldest attacks on the South since the Korean War of the 1950s.
The timing might seem inexplicable: After a year of intransigence, North Korea seemed willing and ready to return to nuclear disarmament talks.
But North Korea has never seen violence and negotiation as incompatible, and domestic issues—a succession movement and military discontent—may be more urgent than foreign policy.
North Korea's leaders tightly control information and thrive on myths and lies. However, they cannot hide that the nation is in turmoil, struggling to build its shattered economy and to feed its 24 million people. The number of defectors is rising, and the encroachment of the outside world, through videos and films smuggled from China, has shown citizens what lies beyond the so-called Hermit Kingdom's borders.
Kim Jong Il, now 68, is ailing. North Korea has never confirmed that he suffered a stroke in 2008, but his sudden weight loss last year and the persistent paralysis that has left him with a slight limp was visible during his rare trip to China last month.
None of his three sons has had the benefit of the more than a decade of grooming Kim had by the time he took over after his father Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, and the regime says it is determined to usher in a “stronger, prosperous” era in 2012, the centenary of the patriarch's birth.
Any change in leadership has the potential to be traumatic and tumultuous. A bold attack would be a quick way to muster support and favor in a country where one in 20 citizens is in the military.
North Korea has attacked the South a number of times, despite the 1953 truce that ended the devastating Korean War. South Korea has never retaliated militarily, mindful of the toll another war would have on the Korean peninsula.
The North's deadliest attack was a bomb smuggled aboard a Korean Air flight, which was decimated over the Andaman Sea in 1987, killing 115 people on board.
A North Korean agent captured in connection with that plot said the mastermind was Kim Jong Il, then a few years shy of taking over as leader.
Pyongyang has never admitted to any of the post-truce attacks and may have counted on little proof being uncovered when it sent a submarine loaded with a torpedo into the choppy Yellow Sea on March 26.
But the distinctively North Korean script scrawled on the inside of a torpedo fragment found during the investigation, among other evidence, was a damning fingerprint.
The Cheonan was a symbolic target: The 1,200-ton frigate was involved in a 1999 skirmish between the two Koreas that the South claims killed as many as 30 North Koreans.
North Korea disputes the western sea border drawn by the UN at the close of the Korean War, and those waters have been the site of two other bloody battles since 1999: a firefight in 2002 that killed six South Koreans, and a clash just last November that Seoul says killed a North Korean sailor.
The North Korean navy was ripe for revenge. And defectors say it may have needed a boost, since even relatively well-fed military leaders in a regime built around a “military-first” policy had been going hungry in recent years.
Not long after the November skirmish, the regime enacted sweeping currency reforms. North Koreans were ordered to exchange a limited amount of bills for a new currency, and to turn the rest over to the government—a move that effectively wiped out any personal savings.
The reforms were a disaster. There were reports of riots and unrest—previously a rarity in totalitarian North Korea. If it was a move to showcase the young, Swiss-educated son's economic acumen, it was a miscalculation.
The submarine attack, however, was a stealth move.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burma-North Korea Ties Resurface as Hot Issue [/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By WAI MOE</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Wednesday, May 12, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (5)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (36)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Military ties between Burma and North Korea, and the related issue of Burma's suspected nuclear development program, have come front and center once again as a regional topic of debate following the visit to Burma on Monday by United States envoy Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
Campbell's visit came on the heels of a report in April that a vessel linked to North Korea had arrived in Thilawar Port, near Rangoon, and one of Campbell's key meetings was with Burmese Minister of Science and Technology U Thaung, a former ambassador to the United States who is said to manage Burma’s nuclear development program.
<table style="width: 164px; height: 280px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">The Kang Nam I cargo ship docked at a port in Yangon on May 21, 2007. (Photo: Getty Image) </td></tr></tbody></table>According to a report in state-controlled The New Light of Myanmar on Wednesday, U Thaung's message to the US envoy was ambiguous. While acknowledging that the Burmese government had publicly announced its agreement to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874, which ban all North Korean arms exports, U Thaung also said the Burmese government has “the duty to maintain and protect national sovereignty.”
Following the meeting with U Thaung, the US envoy issued a strong warning concerning Burma's arms purchases from North Korea, which some analysts suspect include nuclear technology.
And after leaving Burma, Campbell flew to Beijing, where his discussions with Chinese officials regarding North Korea are expected to include the relationship between Pyongyang and Naypyidaw.
US-based policy advisers have warned Washington that ties between Burma and North Korea threaten regional stability.
“Several factors could intensify the threat that Burma poses to regional stability and security, including its murky relationship with North Korea,” said Asia Society, an influential New York think-tank, in a report on Burma published in March.
Further talks regarding the ties between Burma and North Korea are likely to be scheduled for the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ regional forum, to be held in Hanoi in July. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jim Webb, the chairman of the US Senate’s committee for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, are expected to attend the forum.
Security experts agree that North Korea has provided Burma with Scud-type missiles, missile parts, rocket launchers, other conventional weapons and underground warfare technology.
The debate now centers on Burma's nuclear development capabilities and the extent to which North Korea is supporting such capabilities.
An intelligence report suggested that at least 1,000 Burmese military personnel have graduated from nuclear technology programs in Russia and North Korea in the past year.
According to observers, and data from Burma’s Ministry of Energy, there are nine uranium mines in Burma, and some security analysts believe that in exchange for North Korean nuclear technology and expertise, the Burmese regime has exported enriched uranium and primary products to North Korea.
Desmond Ball, an Australian expert on Burma, wrote a 2009 report that, quoting Burmese defectors, said the Burmese armed forces established a ‘nuclear battalion’ in 2000 whose operational base includes an underground complex in the mountains southwest of Naung Laing, near Pyin Oo Lwin, where the regime is reportedly constructing a nuclear reactor.
Ball's report said that with North Korea's aide the reactor in Naung Laing could be completed around 2012 and Burma could develop its first deliverable nuclear weapons by 2020.
Although it is presently unclear how North Korea manages to smuggle arms and technology into Burma, speculation over the North Korean vessel that arrived in Rangoon in April followed the controversy last June when the Kang Nam 1, a North Korean vessel believed to be heading to Burma, made a u-turn in the South China Sea after being tailed by a US Destroyer.
Some observers believe that North Korea may also ship arms to Burma by air through China. Sources in Meiktila, in central Burma, have reported seeing military cargoes, believed to be from China and North Korea, arriving at Meiktila Airport, which serves as a Burmese Air Force base.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burmese Officials Celebrate Kim Jong Il's Birthday[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By LAWI WENG</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Monday, February 15, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (8)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (48)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275989057&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D17816&dt=1275989059626&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275989059524&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275988813&ga_hid=49193124&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fpageid%3D2%26Go%3DGo&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=18&xpc=Fx3OO1EgZT&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> High-ranking Burmese military officials joined a ceremony to mark the 68th birthday of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, according to Burma's state-run media.
Lt-Gen Tin Aye, ranked No 5 in the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces) hierarchy, attended a ceremony at the Chartrium Hotel in Rangoon on Sunday to mark the birthday of the North Korean leader.
The state-run The New Light of Myanmar on Monday ran a front-page story with a photograph of Lt-Gen Tin Aye and North Korean Ambassador H.E. Kim Sok Chol holding hands together at a welcome reception. Kim Jong Il's birthday will be on Tuesday.
Senior ministers including Nyan Win, the minister of foreign affairs; Maj-Gen Htay Oo, the minister of agriculture and irrigation and Maj Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin, the chairman of the Yangon City Development Committee also attended the ceremony.
Analysts said the presence of Tin Aye signified a warmer relationship between the two countries.
A graduate of Defense Services Academy-9, 64-year-old Tin Aye has made official visits to various countries, including China, North Korea, Russia and Ukraine to procure arms and military equipment. He chairs the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), often regarded as the armed forces' business arm in handling trade.
Analysts say Burma's military leaders see a kindred spirit in Kim Jong Il as a politician who dares to confront the United States and the West.
A full-page birthday tribute to the North Korean leader was approved by Burma's censorship board, and the Burmese language Popular Journal published a full-page story last week.
The article is expected to be carried by other journals when they appear on Wednesday.
In the privately run journal, the author, Maung Wint Htun, described Kim as a “wise” and “patriotic” leader who has created nuclear and guided missile programs, and other industries. The article praised Kim for sacrificing his life for the future of North Korea.
Burma and North Korea have developed a military relationship since the two countries restored diplomatic ties in 2007. Analysts believe that clandestine military ties between the two countries may have been reestablished as early as 1999, when junta officials paid a low-profile visit to North Korea.
Gen Shwe Mann, the regime's No 3 man, made a secret visit to Pyongyang in November 2008, according to a secret report leaked by Burmese officials in 2009.
During the visit, Shwe Mann signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with North Korea for military cooperation between the two countries.
In the MOU, North Korea would build or supervise the construction of special Burmese military facilities, including tunnels and caves in which missiles, aircraft and even naval ships could be hidden. Burma would also receive expert training for its special forces, air defense training, plus a language training program between personnel in the two armed forces.
In July 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern over military links between North Korea and Burma, after evidence emerged that the Burmese junta may be trying to acquire nuclear technology from Pyongyang.
“We know that there are also growing concerns about military co-operation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously,” Clinton told journalists in Bangkok during a visit to Southeast Asia. “It would be destabilizing for the region. It would pose a direct threat to Burma's neighbors.”
Military analysts say the North Korean regime has provided Burma with weapons, military technology transfers and expertise in underground tunneling used for concealing secret military installations and since 2002, dozens of North Korean technicians have assisted the Burmese armed forces.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Japan and Southeast Asia Take Stock of China's Rise[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By SIMON ROUGHNEEN</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Saturday, February 20, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (6)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (57)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275989046&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D17856&dt=1275989048835&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275989048248&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275988813&ga_hid=1688446034&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fpageid%3D2%26Go%3DGo&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=14&xpc=2hYDNLU8xp&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> BANGKOK — As China's economic and political rise makes itself felt in Asia, Japan and Southeast Asia face serious foreign policy dilemmas in the coming years.
In 1990, Japan's economy was twice as big as the rest Asia combined, and the country looked set to challenge America's global economic primacy. After two decades of flat performance, however, this has changed. Some projections claim that China is already the second largest economy in the world, having overtaken Japan, and others predict that the Chinese economy will be 5-6 times larger than Japan's within the next 40-50 years.
Adding to concerns about Japan's position in Asia is recent friction in its relationship with its most important ally, the United States. Despite wrangles between Tokyo and Washington over naval bases and troop deployment in Japan, however, the alliance between the two countries is steady and remains crucial to security in the wider region, Prof Takashi Shiraishi, currently a member of the Japanese cabinet office, told a forum at Chulalongkorn University.
Supporting this view is the fact that distrust of China still outweighs Japanese public resentment of the US presence. According to opinion polls, more than half the population have a negative opinion of China. Prof Kitti Prasirtsuk, a Thai academic based at Thammasat University who specializes in Japanese politics, said that there is a growing wariness in Japan of Beijing's longer-term strategic intentions.
While it is almost impossible to assess Beijing's long-terms goals, predicting what might happen within China in the coming years—something that will affect how the country projects its new-found power into the 21st century—is even more difficult. This has complicated the debate over whether China wants to become a “responsible stakeholder” in global affairs, or prefers to continue engaging with the rest of world purely in terms of perceived self-interest.
Either way, “We need create a situation where it is in China's interest to work multilaterally, and integrating China into the global economy is the way to do it,” according to Shiraishi.
Whether or not China sees things this way is unclear. It has recently launched a “Buy China” drive which foreign investors and multinationals believe will give Chinese businesses an unfair advantage within the domestic market. It is thought that senior Chinese business leaders, who are often former military cadres, want to corner the vast Chinese market and use this as a platform for Chinese enterprise to challenge Western and Japanese multinationals on the global stage.
Meanwhile, the US has long pushed for a revaluation of China's currency, insinuating that Beijing gives rhetorical support to free trade but unfairly undermines competitors through a skewed yuan valuation.
The key to maintaining regional security in the coming years is to interlock China more closely with the regional political and security architecture, according to Shiraishi, who says there is a need to refashion security to fit better with the economic realities of the broader Asia-Pacific region.
“China, Vietnam and Myanmar [Burma] are all part of the regional economic system, but remain outside the US-led security system that has been in place since the early 1950s,” he said.
Recently, Japan, Australia and China have floated similar-sounding ideas for a form of Asia-Pacific community, with the major sticking point being whether or not to include the US.
However, China's rise has provoked a reassessment of military needs among some US allies. In May 2009, Australia issued a new defense white paper advocating a substantial upgrade and expansion for the country's defense forces to better enable it deal with a rising China and contribute more forcefully to the US military alliance.
Asked by The Irrawaddy if Japan was thinking along the same lines, Shiraishi intimated that a new defense plan was being considered at the moment. He would not go into further detail, but said that Australian-Japanese-American naval cooperation was key to Pacific maritime security. The new Japanese government has made noises about resetting the US-Japan relationship on a more equal footing, which if pushed would likely see Washington demand that Japan increase military spending and do more to assist in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
For now, however, Japan's main regional security worry is North Korea. China is seen in some quarters as the key to resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, though this may overestimate Beijing's influence over the regime of Kim Jong Il, which now has nuclear weapons and would likely be loathe to give these up.

Noting the security threat posed by North Korea, Shiraishi joked that “People in Japan would be happy if North Korea became more like Myanmar.”

Similarly, China's influence over Burma has long been a point of speculation, with the junta playing China off against India in trade and investment and now apparently trying to counterbalance between China and the US diplomatically while the Americans try to counter a growing Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.
However, China is seeking ways to expand domestic consumption and reduce reliance on trade, after demand in the West for Chinese goods declined since late 2008. This would have profound implications for its Asian neighbors, not least members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that recently signed up to a China-Asean free trade area, enticed by the lure of the vast Chinese market.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burma, North Korea Defend their Human Rights Records[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By WAI MOE</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Tuesday, March 16, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (5)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (37)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Burma and North Korea joined in defending each other's human rights records before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Monday.
The UNHRC session heard presentations by special UN rapporteurs on Burma and North Korea, according to the UN Web site.
<table style="width: 21px; height: 65px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">An activist holds a portrait of Burma's detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally in front of the Burmese embassy in Seoul on March 14. (Photo: Reuters) </td></tr></tbody></table>The UN special rapporteur on Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said the country is at a critical moment in its history as the first elections in 20 years are scheduled for this year. He suggested the junta has an opportunity to resolve Burma’s human rights issues and to initiate “much-needed reforms”.
The opportunity was not being taken, however, because dissidents were still being arrested and imprisoned and large numbers of political prisoners remained incarcerated.
More than 2,100 political prisoners, including Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were disenfranchised by the regime's election law, barred from joining political parties or from participating in the planned 2010 poll, Ojea Quintana said.
The regime's position was presented by Burma's representative on the UNHRC, Wunna Maung Lwin, who said his government strongly condemned and rejected certain unfounded allegations. Wunna Maung Lwin denied that Burma had any prisoners of conscience.
The official Burmese stance was supported by North Korea's UNHRC representative, Choe Myong Nam, who said Pyongyang rejected what he described as the unjust politicization and double standards applied to Burma and manifested in country mandates. The mandates should be abolished, the North Korean envoy said.
Choe Myong Nam defended his country's own human rights record, saying it was unfortunate to witness politically motivated approaches and measures from some quarters of the UNHRC since its establishment in 2006.
The human rights records of Burma and North Korea were also defended by China's UNHRC representative, Luo Cheng. He said that China, as a friendly neighbor, respected Burma’s choice of its own road to development and appreciated the Burmese regime's efforts to achieve political reconciliation.
On North Korea, he said: “China urges members of the council to avoid double standards and to respect the road of development the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had chosen.”
In recent years, security analysts and diplomats have been studying the development of closer military ties between Burma and North Korea. For years, North Korea has reportedly provided Burma with conventional arms, including sophisticated missiles, and is reported to be involved in Burma's nuclear program.
Officials of the US State Department, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have said they are closely watching the development of military ties between two countries.
“Reports filtering out of Washington suggest that there have already been a number of confidential briefings to senior officials on this subject,” wrote Andrew Selth, a Burma military expert, in a recent issue of the Australian Journal of International Affairs.
“However, the world is still waiting for a comprehensive official statement which will put all the rumors, blogs and newspaper stories into their proper perspective,” he added.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Burmese Reactors Close to Completion: Military Sources[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By MIN LWIN</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Saturday, March 13, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (18)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (58)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Burma's ruling junta has finished construction work on three nuclear reactors in the country's north and will soon be ready to put them into operation, according to military sources at the elite Defense Services Academy (DSA) in Maymyo, Mandalay Division.
<table style="width: 266px; height: 214px;" align="left" background="" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">

Enlarge Image
A map showing the Pon Taung Pon Nya mountain range, the site of one of three nuclear reactors recently constructed by the Burmese junta.​

</td></tr></tbody></table>The nuclear reactors, which the regime claims are for research purposes, are located at Kyauk Pa Htoe, a village in Thabeikkyin Township, northern Mandalay Division; Maymyo Fifty Miles, an area some 80 km from the setting of the DSA; and Pon Taung Pon Nya, a mountainous area on the border between Magwe and Sagaing divisions.“They [military leaders] chose Pon Taung Pon Nya because it is a safe distance from highly populated cities,” said a military official in Maymyo, also known as Pyin Oo Lwin.
According to local residents, the site is about 30 km from the village of Kyaw in Gantgaw Township, situated on the Pakokkuu-Kalay railway line in Magwe Division.
“Since the project started in 2007, there have been many foreigners who look like they might be Chinese coming and going,” said a local source living in Kyaw.
“We are not allowed to go anywhere near this area built for military use,” the source added.
Although there has been confirmation that construction work on the projects has been completed, it remains unclear how soon the reactors will be ready to go online. However, a recent flurry of activity, including high-level visits by senior members of the ruling regime, suggests that the reactors will soon be ready for use, according to military sources.
The sources say that Vice Sen-Gen Maung Aye, the junta's No. 2, has made frequent trips to the DSA in Maymyo in recent months to meet with Maj-Gen Sein Win, the head of the Directorate of Defense Services Science and Technology Research, which is responsible for Burma’s nuclear program.
According to Ye Htet, a former lieutenant who defected from the Burmese military while studying for a graduate degree at the DSA, the regime has invested heavily in the project with an eye to early completion. He said the junta has sent around 6,000 military officials to Russia to study nuclear technology.
“The project is at least half finished,” said Ye Htet, who fled to Mae Sot, on the Thai-Burmese border, earlier this year.
The technology for Burma’s nuclear research project was provided by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (RFAEA), which agreed in May 2007 to help design and build a 10-megawatt light-water reactor using 20 percent enriched uranium-235 fuel.
However, the Russian agency has since distanced itself from the Burmese nuclear program. This has led to fears that the regime has turned to North Korea for assistance in achieving its nuclear ambitions.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Asian Countries Embrace Nuclear Energy[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By WILLIAM BOOT</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Wednesday, May 5, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (0)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (24)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> BANGKOK—Choices are rapidly dwindling if you want to live in a nuclear-free country in the East Asia-Pacific Rim region.
New Zealand, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei are your options—everywhere else is either operating, researching or planning nuclear power.
<table style="width: 196px; height: 335px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">A boy walks past the memorial to the victims of the world's worst civil nuclear accident at the Chernobyl power station, during a ceremony in Kiev on April 26. Ukraine marked the 24th anniversary of the tragedy when Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded, sending radioactive clouds in the air, poisoning vast areas in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and contaminating much of Europe. (Photo: Reuters) </td></tr></tbody></table>While the Western countries that first embraced nuclear energy are now hand-ringing over the issue because of safety worries, Asia is planning massive development of the controversial fuel source. It’s seen by an increasing number of countries as the only way to meet mushrooming electricity demand and limit or reduce pollution blamed for global warming.
Climate change is forecast by environmental scientists as likely to cause more devastation affecting more people in Asia than anywhere else on Earth.
But the news this week that both Malaysia and Singapore are now seriously looking at the nuclear option has set alarm bells ringing anew among others who believe building scores of nuclear reactor plants across a crowded region is too dangerous and is not being thought through carefully enough.
“The larger environmental issues about nuclear energy relate to waste which remains hazardous for thousands of years, without a real solution,” said Simon Tay of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
The chairman of the regional think tank warns that a number of factors often combine to make nuclear power a less attractive option for generating electricity than more conventional fuels such as oil, gas and coal.
Initial development costs are extraordinarily expensive and the supposed savings over other fuels never take into account the disposal of dangerous nuclear waste and the eventual decommissioning of plants after a 20 or 25-year life, Tay argues in a report.
While debate on a possible nuclear power plant in overcrowded Singapore is muted, there’s an outcry in Malaysia this week following the announcement by the government that it has “no option” but to embrace nuclear energy. Most of Malaysia ’s electricity at present is generated by natural gas drawn from offshore undersea reserves, which are finite.
Lim Guan Eng, the secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action Party, said the public had a right to know “what assurances can be given in relation to safety and environment following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in Ukraine that claimed 56 lives and resulted in 4,000 cancer deaths.”
The 10-country Southeast Asian grouping Asean—moving ever closer economically if not politically—has a standing policy on remaining a nuclear weapons-free zone, but has no policy on nuclear-fueled energy.
Only underdeveloped Laos and Cambodia among the 10 have not yet announced any nuclear ambitions.
Burma is persistently reported to be secretly developing a nuclear reactor capability in a remote location with North Korean and Russian technical help.
Just last month, Thailand reaffirmed plans to build two nuclear plants as part of its electricity development plan up to 2030.
And two of Southeast Asia’s rapidly developing countries, Indonesia and Vietnam, where electricity shortages are acute already have advanced plans for nuclear power. Indonesia has allocated US $8 billion to build four plants. Vietnam says it will have at least one nuclear plant functioning by 2020.
The World Nuclear Association says Asia is the “main region in the world where electricity generating capacity and specifically nuclear power is growing significantly.”
Across East and South Asia there are already 112 nuclear power reactors in operation, says the London-based nuclear industry club.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Arms Imported Over New Year?[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By WAI MOE</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Monday, May 10, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]COMMENTS (3)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]RECOMMEND (32)[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275989006&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D18439&dt=1275989012828&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275989010651&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275988813&ga_hid=1033172667&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fpageid%3D2%26Go%3DGo&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=20&xpc=vzLO2XogGV&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Secrecy normally shrouds military relations between Burma and its strategic allies such as China and North Korea, but intelligence sources suggest ongoing military ties with these two countries are helping the Burmese generals’ to achieve their military ambitions, including that of becoming a nuclear power.
Intelligence sources said top junta generals have held late-night meetings in Naypyidaw in the last two months, discussing military modernization, foreign relations, tension with ethnic groups and suppressing dissidents in urban areas.
They said the junta bought weapons from China and North Korea including mid-range missiles and rocket launchers in April, and suggested the war office in Naypyidaw chose the month when the Burmese celebrate new year in order to avoid public scrutiny.
Equipment necessary to build a nuclear capability was reportedly among imported military supplies from North Korea that arrived at the beginning of the holidays.
A report from Rangoon in April also referred to an undisclosed vessel believed to be connected with North Korea that was seen at Thilawar Port, near Rangoon. Burmese officials at the time said the vessel was there to load Burmese rice destined for North Korea.
Military relations between Naypyidaw and Pyongyang have been attracting attention from analysts, diplomats and journalists in recent years. In August 2009, an article in Sydney Morning Herald alleged the Burmese junta aims to get an atomic bomb in five years using Burmese enriched uranium and North Korean nuclear technology.
Apart from nuclear know-how and equipment, Pyongyang has also provided the Burmese junta's armed forces with truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles and technology for underground warfare since the early 2000s, according to experts on Burma's military like Andrew Selth.
“Pyongyang needs Burmese primary products, which Naypyidaw can in turn use to barter for North Korea arms, expertise and technology,” wrote Andrew Selth in the Australian Journal of International Affairs in March.
Sources based on the Sino-Burmese border said a military convoy traveled from China’s Yunnan Province to central Burma in April. However, they did not report seeing any heavy weapons on military trucks crossing the border.
“In the last 20 years, the Burmese junta have only used the border route to import smaller military equipment and military vehicles, not heavy weapons including missiles and tanks,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military observer based on the Sino-Burmese border. “Most of the heavy weapons from China or other countries arrive in Burma by sea and air.”
Following the 1988 coup, China has become the closest strategic ally for the Burmese junta, who have depended on Chinese weaponry for modernizing their armed forces.
Writing in an academic paper in 2009, China experts Li Chenyang and Lye Liang Fook, said China has actively pursued military and security cooperation with the junta since 1988.
They said military ties are foremost in the sale of weapons and military training. Military equipment includes missiles, fighter planes, warships, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and radar.
Although China opposes Burma developing chemical, biological, nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, it has not objected to Burma buying such material from other countries, they said.
But some observers think Beijing is the key for North Korean-Burmese ties as it is the only country which has good relations with both states.
“The Chinese are like brokers in Naypyidaw’s relationship with Pyongyang. We should remember that recent trips by Burmese generals to North Korea have been via China,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw. “Since 1988, China has been the junta’s main strategic partner.”
To balance their dependency on China in recent years, the Burmese junta also purchased weapons and military equipment from other countries such as India, North Korea, Pakistan and Russia.
A state-run-newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, reported on Monday that Chief of Military Ordnance, Lt-Gen Tin Aye, attended a reception at the Russian Embassy in Rangoon on Sunday, marking the 65th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War over Nazi Germany.
Tin Aye is familiar with officials from China, North Korea and Russia as he has traveled to these countries to purchase weapons.
The US government is taking a keen interest in Burma’s secretive relations with North Korea, meanwhile. US officials such as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, have voiced concern, saying the US is closely watching ties between Burma and North Korea.
Campbell is in Burma on Sunday and Monday for his second trip to the country.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Campbell Warns Burma over NKorea Arms[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Tuesday, May 11, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> RANGOON — A top US official visiting Burma warned Monday that its military regime should abide by UN sanctions that prohibit buying arms from North Korea, and also said the junta's election plans lack legitimacy.
Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, read a statement to the press as he prepared to leave Burma after holding nearly two hours of closed-door talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party was disbanded last week as a result of its refusal to register for the polls, slated for sometime this year.
<table style="width: 173px; height: 144px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 10px;"><table style="width: 176px; height: 140px;" align="left" bgcolor="#f0f4f5" border="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 10px 10px 5px;" class="table_border1" align="middle"><center>
Slide Show (View)</center></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>He did not reveal details of their talks, but praised her nonviolent struggle for democracy."She has demonstrated compassion and tolerance for her captors in the face of repeated indignities," he said. "It is simply tragic that Burma's generals have rebuffed her countless appeals to work together to find a peaceable solution for a more prosperous future." Burma is another name for Myanmar.
Campbell earlier held talks with several Cabinet ministers.
The US envoy issued what appeared to be Washington's strongest warning to date concerning Burma's arms purchases from North Korea, which some analysts suspect includes nuclear technology.
A UN Security Council resolution bans all North Korean arms exports, authorizes member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo and requires them to seize and destroy any goods transported in violation of the sanctions.
Campbell said that Burmese leadership had agree to abide by the UN resolution, but that "recent developments" called into question its commitment. He said he sought the junta's agreement to "a transparent process to assure the international community that Burma is abiding by its international commitments."
"Without such a process, the United States maintains the right to take independent action within the relevant frameworks established by the international community," said Campbell.
He did not explain what the new developments were or what action the US might take, though it has in the past threatened to stop and search ships carrying suspicious cargo from Pyongyang.
Campbell said that in talks with senior officials, the US side had also outlined a proposal "for a credible dialogue" for all concerned parties to agree on how to conduct upcoming polls, the first since 1990. But the junta had instead moved forward unilaterally without consulting opposition and independent voices.
"As a direct result, what we have seen to date leads us to believe that these elections will lack international legitimacy," he said. "We urge the regime to take immediate steps to open the process in the time remaining before the elections." The exact date for the polls has not yet been set.
Campbell's visit, his second in six months, came just days after the dissolution of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, or NLD, which won the 1990 election but was never allowed to take power.
The party considers newly enacted election laws unfair and undemocratic—as Suu Kyi and other political prisoners would be barred from taking part in the vote—and so declined to re-register as required, which meant it was automatically disbanded last week.
Suu Kyi was driven from her home in a three-car police motorcade to the nearby government guesthouse for the talks with Campbell. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been detained, mostly under house arrest, for 14 of the past 20 years. Her freedom has been a long-standing demand of the United States and much of the world community, including the United Nations.
Campbell also voiced concern about the increasing tensions between the government and ethnic minorities that have long been striving for greater autonomy, but face sometime severe repression.
"Burma cannot move forward while the government itself persists in launching attacks against its own people to force compliance with a proposal its ethnic groups cannot accept," he said.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Thailand to Deport Crew of NKorean Weapons Plane[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By JOCELYN GECKER / AP WRITER</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Thursday, February 11, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> <tr><td class="table_border1"> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3365966073378334"; /* 120x240, created 9/12/08 */ google_ad_slot = "8900286241"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 240; google_color_link = "000000"; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script>google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);</script><ins style="display: inline-table; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><ins style="display: block; border: medium none; height: 240px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 120px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" hspace="0" id="google_ads_frame2" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_frame" src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3365966073378334&output=html&h=240&slotname=8900286241&w=120&lmt=1275989971&color_link=000000&flash=10.0.45&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Farticle.php%3Fart_id%3D17785&dt=1275989975020&shv=r20100519&prev_slotnames=2795118155&correlator=1275989973850&frm=0&adk=260397287&ga_vid=1217600844.1275710934&ga_sid=1275988813&ga_hid=700574428&ga_fc=1&u_tz=420&u_his=1&u_java=1&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=768&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_nplug=14&u_nmime=63&biw=972&bih=501&eid=44901217&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irrawaddy.org%2Fsearch.php%3Fpageid%3D3%26Go%3DGo&fu=0&ifi=2&dtd=19&xpc=3kEM2X7p8x&p=http%3A//www.irrawaddy.org" style="left: 0pt; position: absolute; top: 0pt;" vspace="0" width="120" frameborder="0" height="240" scrolling="no"></iframe></ins></ins> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> BANGKOK — Thai prosecutors dropped charges against the five-man crew of an aircraft accused of smuggling weapons from North Korea, saying Thursday the men would be deported to preserve good relations with their home countries.
The Attorney General's Office said the decision was made after the governments of Belarus and Kazakhstan contacted the Thai Foreign Ministry and requested the crew's release to face prosecution at home.
"To charge them in Thailand could effect the good relationship between the countries," said Thanaphit Mollaphruek, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office. "We have decided to drop all the charges and deport them to their home countries."
"To charge them in this case would not be a benefit to Thailand," he added.
The crew — four Kazakhs and a Belarusian — were expected to be released later in the day, said their lawyer Somsak Saithong.
Their Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane was intercepted during a Dec. 12 refueling stop in Bangkok after loading 35 tons of weapons aboard in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Thai authorities said they acted on a tip from the United States.
The UN imposed sanctions in June banning North Korea from exporting any arms after the communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-fired missiles. North Korea is believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria and Burma.
The crew has denied any knowledge of arms aboard the plane, which Thai authorities say included explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles. The crew says they believed they were carrying oil-drilling equipment.
All five were charged with illegal arms possession, but Thai authorities had repeatedly said the charges were expected to be stiffened once an investigation wrapped up.
In recent weeks, however, the tone from Thai authorities changed.
Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya indicated earlier this month the men would be released, telling reporters in Geneva the government had "suggested to the office of the attorney general to release them because the UN resolution does not oblige Thailand to ... bring up charges on the pilots and the crew."
Thursday's decision was likely to spark international criticism. The weapons' ultimate destination remains a mystery, though Thailand has said the plane's final destination appears to have been Iran. Experts have also voiced concerns that authorities in the former Soviet republics have turned a blind eye to illicit activities of air freight companies that use Soviet-era planes to fly anything anywhere for a price.
A Thai government report to the UN Security Council, leaked to reporters in late January said the aircraft was bound for Tehran's Mahrabad Airport.
But Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayarkorn said subsequently that "to say that the weapons are going to Iran, that might be inexact."
"The report only says where the plane was going to according to its flight plan, but it doesn't say where the weapons were going to," he said. "It's still under investigation, and the suspects are under our legal system."
Investigations by The Associated Press in several countries showed the flight was facilitated by a web of holding companies and fake addresses from New Zealand to Barcelona designed to disguise the movement of the weapons.
Associated Press writer Jane Fugal contributed to this report.

 

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]North Korean Weapons Mystery Continues[/FONT]

<hr class="hr_dot"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="style3"> By JANE FUGAL / AP WRITER</td> <td class="style4" align="right"> Thursday, February 4, 2010 </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <hr class="hr_dot"> <table style="padding-top: 15px;" align="right" width="125"> <tbody><tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]E-MAIL[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]PRINT[/SIZE]</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="table_border1"> [SIZE=-2]TEXT SIZE[/SIZE]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> BANGKOK — Thailand said Monday that an aircraft loaded with North Korean weapons was flying to Iran when it was intercepted in December but the ultimate destination of the arms is still not known.
Thai authorities seized the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane and its five-man crew as it landed to refuel on a flight from Pyongyang Dec. 12. Found on board were 35 tons of weapons.
<table style="width: 320px; height: 315px;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-right: 15px;"></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px; line-height: 12px; padding-right: 15px;">Thai police officers and soldiers surround a suspect foreign-registered cargo plane to make a search at Don Muang airport on Dec. 12, 2009 in Bangkok. (Photo: AP) </td></tr></tbody></table>A Thai government report to the UN Security Council, leaked to reporters in New York over the weekend, said the aircraft, which had violated UN sanctions against North Korea, was bound for Tehran's Mahrabad Airport.
But Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayarkorn said Monday that "to say that the weapons are going to Iran, that might be inexact."
"The report only says where the plane was going to according to its flight plan, but it doesn't say where the weapons were going to," he said. "It's still under investigation, and the suspects are under our legal system."
The five-man crew — four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus — remain under detention. The crew has been charged with illegal arms possession, but the charges are expected to be stiffened once the investigation wraps up, police have said.
The weapons found on board the aircraft were reportedly light battlefield arms, including grenades — hardly the ones Iran's sophisticated military would need.
From the start there has been speculation that the weapons were to be shipped on to some of the radical Middle Eastern groups supported by Tehran.
The UN imposed sanctions in June banning North Korea from exporting any arms after the communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-fired missiles. Impoverished North Korea is believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria and Burma.
Investigations by The Associated Press in several countries showed the flight was facilitated by a web of holding companies and fake addresses from New Zealand to Barcelona designed to disguise the movement of the weapons.
The plane's chief pilot maintains that the aircraft was headed for Kiev, Ukraine.
"I never said or confirmed the plane was routed to Iran. I only know that the plane was going to Ukraine and the cargo was to have been unloaded there. That's the information I have," the crew's Thai lawyer, Somsak Saithong, told The Associated Press on Monday.
He said the prosecutor will have to decide whether to drop the case or send the five for trial before Feb. 11, when their detention period expires. After seeing his clients, Saithong said all continued to insist they did not know the contents of the cargo they were flying.