Clinton worried about North Korean ties to Myanmar

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer

BANGKOK – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the Obama administration is concerned by the possibility that North Korea, with a history of illicit sales of missiles and nuclear technology, may have military ties to Myanmar.

She did not refer explicitly to a nuclear connection but made clear that the matter is worrying.

"We know there are also growing concerns about military cooperation between North Korea and Burma which we take very seriously," she said when asked about the matter at a news conference in the Thai capital. Myanmar, also known as Burma, is run by a military regime.

"It would be destabilizing for the region, it would pose a direct threat to Burma's neighbors," she said, adding that as a treaty ally of Thailand, the United States takes the matter seriously.

Clinton held talks with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

On Wednesday she is scheduled to fly to the Thai resort city of Phuket to attend an international meeting on regional security. Myanmar and North Korea are expected to be major topics of discussion at the meeting.

Clinton said she has no plans to meet with any North Korean representative at the Phuket meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations.