A brief history of the North Korea-Myanmar friendship



Evergreen A brief history of the North Korea-Myanmar friendship The two countries have a long history of friendship - and continue to enjoy healthy ties Maria Rosaria Coduti May 9, 2017 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON View from Golden Hill Towers (long exposure), Yangon Myanmar with Leica D-Lux 5 by soelin on 2010-12-19 18:31:35 “Dangerous bedfellows”, “rogue brothers in arms” and “friends in need” are some of the expressions experts and journalists have used to describe North Korea-Myanmar relations in the past. In 2005, the then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice labeled Myanmar an “outpost of tyranny”, a feature that saw the country enter the club of the “pariah states” along with Cuba, Iran, Belarus, Zimbabwe and North Korea. However, just four years later, the newly elected Obama administration reviewed American policy toward Myanmar and shifted to one based on the pragmatic engagement of Naypyidaw, the country’s capital, which inaugurated a new era © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update & Podcast Updates Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

Evergreen

A brief history of the North Korea-Myanmar friendship

The two countries have a long history of friendship - and continue to enjoy healthy ties

Maria Rosaria Coduti May 9, 2017

A brief history of the North Korea-Myanmar friendship

View from Golden Hill Towers (long exposure), Yangon Myanmar with Leica D-Lux 5 by soelin on 2010-12-19 18:31:35

“Dangerous bedfellows”, “rogue brothers in arms” and “friends in need” are some of the expressions experts and journalists have used to describe North Korea-Myanmar relations in the past.

In 2005, the then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice labeled Myanmar an “outpost of tyranny”, a feature that saw the country enter the club of the “pariah states” along with Cuba, Iran, Belarus, Zimbabwe and North Korea.

However, just four years later, the newly elected Obama administration reviewed American policy toward Myanmar and shifted to one based on the pragmatic engagement of Naypyidaw, the country’s capital, which inaugurated a new era

About the Author

Maria Rosaria Coduti

Maria Rosaria Coduti is a columnist for NK News. She is a Blue Book Trainee at the European Commission, EEAS department, and a Ph.D. Candidate at the School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield. She received both a BA and MA, with honors, at the School of Political Science of the University of Bologna. She has previously worked as Non-Resident Junior Research Fellow at ISDP and has written on North Korea for the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, North Korean Review Online and the Korea Economic Institute blog. During her last MA year, Ms. Coduti conducted research on North Korea’s foreign policy. Her research interests focus on domestic and foreign policy of the two Koreas and China, inter-Korean relations, nuclear and security issues in Northeast Asia, and cognitive foreign policy analysis and role theory.

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