(This post is news articles from Asahi Shimbun newspaper and
Eleven Media Group.)
North Korea tried to ship
materials suitable for uranium enrichment or missile development to Myanmar via
China last year, in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution, The Asahi
Shimbun has learned.
The shipment included about 50 metal pipes and 15
high-specification aluminium alloy bars, at least some of them offering the
high strength needed in centrifuges for a nuclear weapons program. Japan seized
the items aboard a cargo vessel docked at Tokyo Port on Aug. 22, a raid which
took place at the request of the United States, sources told The Asahi Shimbun.
Authorities concluded that the shipment originated in North
Korea because the bars were found to be inscribed "DPRK," although
investigators were unable to confirm the origin from cargo documents or from
the ship's crew, the sources said.
Advanced Aluminium Alloy
Tubes and Bars Made in China
Japan, the United States and South Korea believe Myanmar has
abandoned its one-time nuclear weapons ambitions. This makes officials suspect
that the aluminium alloy may have been intended for use in building missiles
instead. A South Korean government source said Myanmar may have been trying to
develop short-range missiles in the event of border disputes with its
neighbors.
The United States is among nations now easing sanctions against
Myanmar and supporting its move toward democracy. On Nov. 19, Barack Obama, the
first serving U.S. president to visit Myanmar, met with President Thein Sein in
Yangon and requested that he sever military ties with North Korea.
The revelation of apparent continued links could hamper
international reconciliation. And Pyongyang has complained of U.S. pressure on
Myanmar to end relations. It will also likely cause international criticism of
Myanmar and China, which have both denied violating the U.N. ban on North
Korean exports of weapons and related materials.
The cargo was to have been delivered to Soe Min Htike, a
Yangon-based construction company, which the U.S. government believes is a
front for Myanmar's military procurement. In an interview with The Asahi
Shimbun, a company based in Dalian, China, confirmed that it had tried to send
aluminium alloy to Myanmar.
"We became the
cargo's owner at the request of a company," an official said. "We have learned
that the cargo was seized, but we do not know why." Japanese
government officials believe North Korea acquired the aluminium alloy from
China. They said North Korea is unlikely to possess the technology needed to
produce such material.
At a meeting held to discuss the matter, Japanese officials from
several government agencies agreed that the Chinese military—which ultimately
controls its defense industry—must have approved North Korea's exporting the
materials to Myanmar.
Planned Route of the
Illicit Cargo Ship
The sources said the cargo was loaded onto the 17,138-ton Wan
Hai 215, a Singapore-registered cargo vessel operated by a Taiwanese shipping
company, in Dalian on July 27. On Aug. 9, the cargo was offloaded and placed
aboard the 27,800-ton Wan Hai 313 in Shekou, China. On Aug. 14, the cargo was
scheduled to change ships once again in Malaysia and to reach Yangon Port the
following day.
The United States learned about the cargo's possible contents
and asked the Taiwanese shipping company not to carry out the transshipment in
Malaysia. The Wan Hai 313 entered Tokyo Port on Aug. 22. Officers from Tokyo
Customs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and other agencies
examined the cargo and found the items in question.
For the first time, Japan applied a special measures law that
allows the government to inspect cargo on ships suspected of carrying weapons
and related materials to and from North Korea. Meanwhile, the discovery could
force Japan, the United States and South Korea to review their nuclear non-proliferation
policy.
A Japanese government source said since North Korea has no
apparent difficulty procuring the necessary aluminium alloy it now likely
"has acquired a large number of centrifuges." In November 2010, North
Korea showed centrifuges to U.S. experts at a nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
Officials claimed there were 2,000 centrifuges, enough to produce 40 kilograms
of highly enriched uranium in one year, if certain conditions are met. That
amount is sufficient for one or two nuclear bombs.
The U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies suspect that
North Korea is operating additional underground uranium enrichment facilities
elsewhere. "North Korea would never
disclose all its cards," one South Korean government source said. "There must be other facilities."
Is Burma’s Nuclear Dream Still
Alive?
It is difficult to monitor the activities of centrifuges with an
intelligence satellite because the site needed is small compared with the large
reactor needed to produce plutonium for bombs. North Korea and Myanmar have had
military ties for years.
Sources quoted Shwe Mann, speaker of Myanmar's lower house, as
recently telling Japanese government officials that North Korea has yet to
deliver some weapons ordered by Myanmar in the past. But, the speaker insisted,
Myanmar would pursue no new weapons purchases from North Korea.
Shwe Mann's remark effectively contradicts Myanmar's official
stance that it has not had any military transactions since spring 2011. The
United States and South Korea learned that Myanmar signed contracts to purchase
military supplies from North Korea when Shwe Mann visited the country in
November 2008 as joint chief of staff. Among facilities Shwe Mann inspected was
a North Korean missile factory.
In January last year, a ship arrived at Yangon Port via China, carrying
cargo that had been loaded in Nampho, North Korea, ordered by an organization
affiliated with the Myanmar military. "The
cargo was a primary machine tool for weapons manufacture," said a
diplomatic source in Yangon. "Military
ties between Myanmar and North Korea have not been cut off."
North Korean military engineers have been spotted in Myanmar, as
well as officials from a company that procures personal funds for the North
Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. The U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies
have stationed personnel at airports and ports in Myanmar to monitor traffic,
but North Koreans are apparently travelling by land through China, sources
said.
Investigations by Japan and the United States have found that
Myanmar has—at some point—imported from North Korea weapons that include
mortars. Myanmar has also informally told the United States it built
underground tunnels near Naypyidaw and elsewhere with technical assistance from
the North Korean military.
Japan, the United States and South Korea have refrained from disclosing
details about military ties between North Korea and Myanmar. "If we went
public with that, we would thrust Myanmar closer to China and North
Korea," said one Japanese government source.
Meanwhile, a Chinese government source criticized the approach
of countries such as the United States toward Myanmar. "It does not
contain only niceties, such as an evaluation of the pro-democracy
movement," the source said. "This is a geopolitical confrontation
between China and the United States."
Burmese Government Denial
Major Zaw Htay (Mhu Zaw). |
His office has also released a press statement emphasizing following points;
1. The newspaper Asahi
Shimbun mentioned the incident had happened in last August but admitted the
news was not officially released by the Japanese Government. Our president had
recently met the Japanese Prime Minister during the Asean Summit in Cambodia
and the bilateral relations between two countries are at its best.
2. Burma is a full-member
of IAEA since 1957 its founding year and Burma has signed in December 1992 the
Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), in 1995 the Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) and
the South East Asian Nuclear-weapon-free Zone Treaty, and in 1996 the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
3. As a member of United
Nations Burma has strictly followed the UN Security Council Resolution No-1874.
4. In the recent past
Burma had attempted to build a nuclear reactor but because of Burma’s lack of
financial resources and technology, and also to avoid international suspicion
president U Thein Sein’s government has completely abandoned that program.
Despite the Burmese government’s strong denial Burmese military
still have clandestine connection and dealings with recluse North Korea and
Burmese army is still receiving military hardware supposedly purchased during
the military dictatorship just few years back.
And army sources have confirmed that Soe Min Htike, a
Yangon-based construction company, now deregistered was one of the myriad of
companies being used as the front for Burma’s illicit military procurement.
Army Chief Recently Declares
Burma needs Nuclear Program
VSG Min Aung Hlaing and his generals at DSMA (2011). |
State media on Saturday reported the comments made by the armed
forces commander at the graduation ceremony for the military’s Medical Academy.
“In modern medical
treatment, nuclear medicine is effectively used to treat cancer with
radioactive isotopes and radioactive therapy,” Vice Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing told the graduating class on Friday at a
ceremony on Yangon.
“The military will not
develop nuclear technology to produce weapons of mass destruction but will
conduct studies and experiments for peaceful purposes in accordance with
international standards to use in the medical sector, in laboratory research
for science and in the electrical energy sector,” the Myanmar-language state-owned Myanma Ahlin reported.
Of course, Burma must have
nuclear reactors
Following is reportedly a collective opinion of senior Burmese
officers recently published on the blog of a retired army general whose name I
should keep it as a secret as he desires.
“I don’t have much time so
I don’t want to write a long post. And we Burmese are sort of people once the
post is too long and too many facts involved they just don’t want to read. So
I’ll just go to the points.
Bangladeshi Nuke-power. |
Then that fucking Bangladesh on the west, a small country with massive population, relying almost totally on nuclear energy. And they can switch to weapon production at anytime if they want a nuke.
Also Thailand on the east
has plans to build nuclear reactors by 2025. And then Malaysia and Indonesia,
who knows what they have and what their nuclear plans are?
Among those nuclear-nations our
country still has so many remote places where people have never seen
electricity. Even in Rangoon and Mandalay we have to ration electricity supply.
Without reliable and cheap electric power the foreign investors ready and
willing to come our country are not coming in, yet.
We have relied on
hydro-electric power for too long. But it needs lots and lots of water. Coal
power generators also can be built only for a specific region where coal is
plenty. And coal is limited resource and one day all the coals will be gone,
used up.
Okay, how about natural
gas? But the gas is our main foreign exchange earner. If we use it to produce
electricity we can’t export it. Also gas is a limited natural resource and one
day it also will be used up.
Nuclear power! We should
have nuclear reactors, in my opinion of course. Just two reactors, one in Upper
Burma and one in Lower, will be more than enough for our whole electricity need.
That is only energy use. How about military use? Once we have nuclear reactors
running in Burma our potential enemies will think more than twice before
confronting us with their F16 fighter jets and brand new naval frigates again.