Myanmar's government seeks military buildup

Myanmar's military government has been trying to modernize and build up its armaments.

The number of the country's military personnel has more than doubled to over 400,000 since the government was launched in a military coup 20 years ago.

The United States and European countries have imposed severe economic sanctions on Myanmar, citing its delayed democratization. Myanmar's government says its military buildup is a key to maintaining its independence as a sovereign state.

Analysts say Myanmar has strengthened ties with China in recent years, and bought weapons from China, India, Russia and Ukraine with foreign currency it obtained through sales of natural gas and minerals.
They say Myanmar had been buying small arms from North Korea through mediation by China and Singapore even before restoring diplomatic ties with the North last year. The restoration of ties is believed to have enabled Myanmar to buy larger weapons from the North.

As for North Korea, a Japanese university professor and expert on Korean Peninsula affairs says North Korea has increasingly relied on arms export to obtain foreign currency, as it is getting difficult to do so through drug trading and counterfeiting.

He said North Korea may expect the United States to be less critical of its export of rocket launchers to Myanmar than of its suspected transfer of nuclear technology to countries including Syria.

2008/04/02 20:05 (http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_32.html)