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Nuclear proliferation has once again become the buzz word in international politics. After developments in North Korea, there are reports suggesting that Myanmar might follow suit. There are a number of reasons for these speculations.

There was general unease among the international community recently when a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam I, headed toward Myanmar with undisclosed cargo. This was shadowed by the U.S. Navy, as the cargo it was carrying was thought to be equipment that could help Myanmar in its nuclear ambitions. The freighter however, reversed course and returned to North Korea. Till now it is unclear as to what was aboard the ship. US and South Korean officials suspected artillery and other non-nuclear arms, but one South Korean intelligence expert, citing satellite imagery, stated that the ship's mission appeared to be related to a Myanmar nuclear program and the vessel also carried Scud-type missiles.

 

There have also been reports from Washington-based Radio Free Asia and Myanmar exile media about senior Myanmar military officers’ secret visit late last year to North Korea, where an agreement was apparently concluded for greatly expanding cooperation to modernize Myanmar's military, including the construction of underground installations. Earlier there had been photographs, videos and reports which showed as many as 800 tunnels, some of them quite large, dug in Myanmar with North Korean assistance under an operation code-named "Tortoise Shells." The photos were reportedly taken between 2003 and 2006.

These speculations are a result of North Korea's nuclear cooperation with Syria, which now possesses a nuclear reactor. Syria had first approached the Russians, just as Myanmar did earlier, for help with nuclear expertise. However, both the countries were refused by the Russians. Thus, the Syrians turned to Pyongyang, and this appears to be the likely move for Myanmar as well. One reason for concern on the nuclear front is the evidence that North Korea provided Syria clandestine help to build a nuclear reactor, which was destroyed in an airstrike by Israel in 2007.

The new alliance appears to come from the fact that both Myanmar and North Korea have discovered that they have much more in common than just their unfortunate history. Both are authoritarian countries put under unprecedented international condemnation. Moreover, Myanmar needed more military hardware to battle ethnic insurgent groups and North Korea was willing to accept barter deals for the armaments. This was an arrangement that suited the generals in Yangon who were cash strapped due to the ongoing sanctions against Myanmar.

Attempts by Myanmar to acquire nuclear technology are not new. Myanmar's ambitions for civilian nuclear power made global headlines in early 2001. The country reportedly sent hundreds of soldiers for nuclear training in Russia that same year and the reactor was scheduled for delivery in 2003. However, the program was shelved due to financial difficulties and the lack of a formal contract for the reactor. In 2007, Russia signed an agreement to establish a nuclear studies center in Myanmar, constructed a 10-megawatt nuclear research reactor for peaceful purposes, and trained several hundred technicians in its operation. However, Russia's atomic agency Rosatom told The Associated Press recently that "there has been no movement whatsoever on this agreement with Burma ever since."

Even earlier, before the military seized power, Myanmar sought to develop nuclear energy, sending physicists to the United States and Britain for studies in the 1950s. The military government established a Department of Atomic Energy in 2001 under U Thaung, a known proponent of nuclear technology who heads the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Myanmar's stagnant nuclear program was revitalized shortly after Pakistan's first detonation of nuclear weapons in May 1998. Senior general and junta leader Than Shwe signed the Atomic Energy Law on June 8, 1998, and the timing of the legislation, on the heels of Pakistan's entry into the nuclear club did little to assuage international concerns about Myanmar's nuclear intentions.

In the Thai capital Bangkok on Tuesday, Clinton did not refer explicitly to a nuclear connection but highlighted the military relationship between Myanmar and North Korea. “We know there are also growing concerns about military cooperation between North Korea and Burma which we take very seriously," Clinton said. Though it is apparent that no country expects Myanmar to obtain a nuclear bomb anytime soon but there has been growing international concern on the issue.

Myanmar is party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and under the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is obligated to let the UN watchdog know at least six months ahead of operating a nuclear facility, agency spokesman Ayhan Evrensel has clarified. What has been a rare comment from inside Myanmar, Chan Tun, former ambassador to North Korea turned democracy activist, told the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine, "To put it plainly: Burma wants to get the technology to develop a nuclear bomb.”

North Korea's nuclear program has given it leverage and allowed the impoverished country to receive international aid in return for steps toward dismantling its nuclear capabilities. Myanmar, also a poor nation, may well be seeking such a negotiating tool. Some analysts believe the regime may eventually seek nuclear weapons for the dual purpose of international prestige and strategic deterrence.