North Korea, Myanmar restore ties: Minister

Yangon, Apr 26: Myanmar and North Korea restored diplomatic ties today, 24 years after Yangon broke them off because Pyongyang agents blew up a South Korean government delegation visiting the former Burma.

''North Korea and Myanmar have formally signed an agreement to restore diplomatic ties,'' Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu told reporters after meeting with his counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il, in the commercial capital, Yangon.

The two nations are among the poorest and most isolated in the world and both face Western sanctions -- Myanmar for rights abuses and North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests.

More than 20 people, including four visiting South Korean ministers, were killed when North Korean agents said to have direct links to current leader Kim Jong-Il blew up a major Yangon landmark in 1983.

Myanmar exile groups, who are vehemently opposed to the military junta in charge of the former Burma, have suggested Yangon has buried the hatchet because it wants to get its hands on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile technology.

Other analysts dismiss this, and say the explanation could be as innocent as two left-leaning, secretive Asian countries wanting to have a proper relationship.

Reuters>