Tuesday, 23 October 2012 14:17 Mizzima News
The US believes Burma is giving up its remaining military ties with North Korea but said it will take time, a US envoy for the US-North Korean nuclear issue said on Monday.
Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies told reporters in Beijing that Washington continued to be worried about the relationship and it was an issue raised with their counterparts in the former Burma, Reuters news agency reported.
“I think that Burma's on the right path, that they have made a strategic decision to fundamentally alter their relationship with the DPRK and to ultimately end these relationships with North Korea,” Davies said. “But it's a work in process. It was a long relationship that the two countries had and so it does take some time to work through it.”
Burma’s defence minister said in June that his country had abandoned research on a nuclear programme that never progressed very far and had stepped back from close military and political ties with North Korea.
Burma’s ties to North Korea were a major focus during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visit to Burma in December, when she said she welcomed the Burmese government’s promise to break off its military relationship with North Korea and it’s commitment to keep implementing democratic reforms.
“We look to the government to fully implement UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874, and we support the government’s stated determination to sever military ties with North Korea,” she said. The UN resolutions imposed an arms embargo against North Korea.
Secretary Clinton told Burma that if it wants to establish a relationship with the US, it must abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Earlier, Burma’s Lower House speaker and former military leader No. 3, Shwe Mann, said Burma had military ties with North Korea, but he denied it had tried to get North Korean nuclear technology.
The US believes Burma is giving up its remaining military ties with North Korea but said it will take time, a US envoy for the US-North Korean nuclear issue said on Monday.
Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies told reporters in Beijing that Washington continued to be worried about the relationship and it was an issue raised with their counterparts in the former Burma, Reuters news agency reported.
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| Burma’s Lower House speaker Shwe Mann Photo: Pyithu Hluttaw |
“I think that Burma's on the right path, that they have made a strategic decision to fundamentally alter their relationship with the DPRK and to ultimately end these relationships with North Korea,” Davies said. “But it's a work in process. It was a long relationship that the two countries had and so it does take some time to work through it.”
Burma’s defence minister said in June that his country had abandoned research on a nuclear programme that never progressed very far and had stepped back from close military and political ties with North Korea.
Burma’s ties to North Korea were a major focus during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visit to Burma in December, when she said she welcomed the Burmese government’s promise to break off its military relationship with North Korea and it’s commitment to keep implementing democratic reforms.
“We look to the government to fully implement UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874, and we support the government’s stated determination to sever military ties with North Korea,” she said. The UN resolutions imposed an arms embargo against North Korea.
Secretary Clinton told Burma that if it wants to establish a relationship with the US, it must abide by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Earlier, Burma’s Lower House speaker and former military leader No. 3, Shwe Mann, said Burma had military ties with North Korea, but he denied it had tried to get North Korean nuclear technology.
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