North Korean foreign minister arrives in Myanmar capital

Jul 30, 2010, 6:48 GMT

Yangon - North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun arrived in Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw Friday morning for talks expected touch on ways to ease the two pariah states' diplomatic isolation.

Officials in the military-ruled nation declined to comment on the agenda of the scheduled talks between Pak and his Myanmar counterpart, Foreign Minister U Nyan Win.

The two nations have moved closer in recent years as both face crippling economic sanctions from Western nations because of human rights violations.

Both countries have also been criticized for alleged cooperation in the field of nuclear weapons technology. US officials have voiced suspicions that Myanmar's junta may be seeking Pyongyang's help to become South-East Asia's first nuclear power.

The North Korean foreign minister was also expected to meet Information Minister U Kyaw Hsan and Prime Minister U Thein Sein, according to a source in Naypyitaw.

Pak arrived in Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, Thursday and visited the city's famed Shwedagon Pagoda and National Museum.

The two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 2007 after years of hostility following an assassination attempt by North Korean agents against South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan in Yangon in 1983.

The bombing at the Martyr's Mausoleum failed to kill Chun but resulted in the death of 21 people, including four South Korean cabinet ministers.