BURMA AND NORTH KOREA RE-ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC

UNCLAS RANGOON 000397 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL BM SUBJECT: BURMA AND NORTH KOREA RE-ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS ¶1. (U) Visiting North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-Il and Burmese Deputy FM Khaw Thu signed a protocol formally re-establishing diplomatic relations at Rangoon's Nikko Hotel on April 26. The ceremony was low-key with only one government media photographer present. When the two deputy FMs left the hotel, foreign media stringers, who had been tipped off to the ceremony, surged forward to ask questions. Kyaw Thu waived aside security personnel and answered questions for about two minutes. In response to the journalists' questions, Kyaw Thu confirmed that the two countries had just signed a document re-establishing diplomatic relations and that North Korea was the thirty-fourth country to have diplomatic relations with Burma. He said North Korea would soon establish a mission in Burma, but he did not say if this mission would be located in the new administrative capital Nay Pyi Taw, or if Burma had plans to establish a mission in Pyongyang. ¶2. (SBU) AFP's reporter asked whether the Chinese ambassador played a role as a mediator. Kyaw Thu gave an emphatic no. Kyaw Thu also said there was no plan for Deputy FM Kim Yong-Il to visit Nay Pyi Taw. Reporters learned that the Deputy FM would travel today to the seaside resort of Ngwe Saung in Ayeyarwady Division, a favorite vacation spot of Senior General Than Shwe. Reporters are uncertain who Kim Yong-Il may meet in Ngwe Saung, but they speculate he may meet either Secretary-1 Thein Sein or SPDC number three General Thura Shwe Mann. ¶3. (SBU) Reporters from Japanese news agencies told us they recognized five Japanese diplomats present at Nikko Hotel. They were not sure whether the Japanese attended the signing ceremony or if they were there for a separate meeting with the North Korean delegation. A South Korean man joined the group of journalists, whom the journalists did not recognize as a local JOURNALIST or a diplomat, and asked Kim Yong-Il in Korean how he liked Myanmar. The startled North Korean diplomat shook his head and refused to respond. All members of the North Korean delegation wore badges bearing the image of their leader Kim Jong Il. VILLAROSA