Yangon, Nov 17: Myanmar's ruling junta today rejected a report that North Korea is selling it missiles and providing nuclear technology, saying it had no intention of threatening its neighbours with the weapons "Myanmar is a country which is everybody's friend and nobody's ally or enemy. The country is living peacefully with her neighbours and does not have any ambition to arm itself with nuclear weapons and to become a threat to others," it said in a statement.In an article entitled "dangerous bedfellows", the far eastern economic review said that signs of growing military ties between North Korea and Myanmar were causing concern among united states and Asian security officials. The report said diplomats had detected indications that Pyongyang may be supplying or planning to supply Myanmar with new weapons, possibly in exchange for shipments of heroin. It cited them as saying that intelligence operatives had detected North Korean technicians unloading heavy equipment near the central town of Natmauk, near where the military government hopes to build a nuclear research reactor. The report said Myanmar has also begun negotiating the purchase of surface-to-surface missiles and that North Korean technicians were working at a naval base near Yangon, possibly preparing to install the weapons on Myanmar warships. "An alliance between two pariah states up against the wall could be dangerous for the region and beyond, especially as one of them may have nuclear-weapons technology that it is ready to export," it said.
Bureau Report