Thursday, February 28, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

USDP Finds It’s Not Easy Shedding Its Reputation as ‘Party of Thieves’

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 06:19 AM PST

YANGON—Taking to Facebook Live to broadcast a press conference at which they insisted they are not opposed to constitutional reform, officials from Myanmar's formerly ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) discovered to their irritation last week that viewers weren't all that interested in what they had to say. To the party's embarrassment, many viewers appeared far more interested in posting unkind comments—like "Thieves!" or "The party of kleptocrats!"—during the live broadcast.

The USDP evolved out of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, an organization established by the military regime in the 1990s. In 2010 many generals resigned and joined the USDP to contest that year's elections, which it won. The party ruled the country until March 2016, before handing over power to the incoming NLD government.

During its time in office, the party rarely enjoyed popular support; in many people's eyes, its members, including those serving in the government, were nothing but military officials in business suits. People complained about their misuse of power, funds and state assets, including the shadowy leasing of 66 plots of land—including factories, fish ponds and farms—owned by the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development by the state-owned Myanmar International Cooperation Agency. The agency was run by former Union ministers U Soe Thane and U Ohn Myint.

At Saturday's press conference, one of the party's spokespersons, U Thein Tun Oo, hit back at the accusations of kleptocracy, saying the claim did not originate with the public but was started by an unnamed "organization".

But where there's smoke, there's fire. Here are some fresh examples:

When the USDP left office in 2016, more than 15 billion kyats (nearly US$10 million at the current rate) in regional development funds handled by the governments of Magwe, Mandalay and Irrawaddy regions from 2012 to 2016 were unaccounted for.

In Magwe Region in upper Myanmar, the Bureau of Special Investigations found that ex-Chief Minister U Phone Maw Shwe was responsible for 7.5 billion kyats that had gone missing from the region's development funds while he was in office (including over 1.7 billion kyats that had been designated for the USDP itself). Until the issue was raised in the regional parliament in May 2016, the chief minister was also the chairman of the Magwe Region's USDP branch.

In Mandalay, the regional auditor general's office discovered in 2017 that more than 3 billion kyats (US$2.1 million) from the regional development fund under the previous government had gone missing. The then chief minister was U Ye Myint, who was also Mandalay's USDP regional chairman.

In Irrawaddy Region, meanwhile, then Chief Minister U Thein Aung, who was also the chair of the regional USDP, failed to hand over regional development funds to the new NLD government in 2016, according to the Auditor-General's Office. Rather, he transferred the funds to a new foundation of which he was the patron.

In all of these cases, it's evident that the former chief ministers failed to transfer regional funds to the incoming NLD government before they left office. The three former USDP chiefs of Magwe, Mandalay and Irrawaddy eventually agreed to pay the money back in separate payments, but only after their embezzlement was brought to light of the day, bringing lawsuit threats from the current government.

U Kyee Myint of the Myanmar Lawyers Network told The Irrawaddy that people called the USDP "thieves" for a valid reason. "They used or squirrelled away development funds. That's why people say this. You can't say their claims are baseless," the lawyer said.

On Thursday, spokesperson U Thein Tun Oo, who had denied the USDP was a party of thieves, was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, the three former chief ministers of Magwe, Mandalay and Irrawaddy are no longer the leaders of their respective local chapters and no longer active in the party's current activities, another USDP spokesperson, U Aung Cho Oo, told The Irrawaddy.

"But they have been central advisers to the USDP since the party convention in August 2016, and they are still party members," the spokesperson added.

The post USDP Finds It's Not Easy Shedding Its Reputation as 'Party of Thieves' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Convoy Attacked in Northern Rakhine; Locals Say Officers Killed

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 04:28 AM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — At least two police officers were among those killed in an attack on a police convoy on the main road through northern Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township on Wednesday night, according to police, local residents and photos on Facebook.

Residents of Pan Nilar Village said they heard a loud explosion followed by multiple rounds of gunfire that night and that they visited the site this morning.

One villager, who asked not to be named, said he saw six dead bodies — four of them badly burned — inside a total of four vehicles.

Other local residents also said they saw dead bodies at the scene, as well as a damaged police van that appeared to have caught fire and civilian car. They said they saw two more damaged police vans about a mile south down the road. They said the vehicles were travelling from Kyauktaw Township toward Sittwe, the state capital.

Photos of the scene circulated on Facebook show a white sedan with multiple bullet holes and the bodies of two men in police uniforms.

Ponnagyun Township police Maj. Nyein Chan confirmed that the convoy was hit by an explosive device but declined to comment further because the attack was still under investigation. Rakhine State police chief Col. Kyi Lin also declined to comment.

Locals said some Pan Nilar residents have left the village for fear of being arrested on suspicion of collaborating with local rebel groups. They said soldiers and police were at the scene of the attack and searching the area with landmine detectors.

U Min Aung, a state lawmaker representing Taungup Township, denied rumors spreading on Facebook that Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu was in the convoy and killed in the attack. He said the chief minister was safe and not part of the convoy.

The post Police Convoy Attacked in Northern Rakhine; Locals Say Officers Killed appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ex-Army Officer Shot Dead in Northern Shan

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 02:45 AM PST

A retired Myanmar Army captain was killed in northern Shan State's Kyaukme Township on Wednesday evening, according to local sources.

An unknown armed man on a motorbike shot Yan Lin Aung, 34, who died at around 7 p.m. in the evening, according to local sources.

"Someone shot him in the town as he was on his way back from buying necessities," said Police Lieutenant-Colonel  San Win of the Shan State Police Force.

"Security forces, including police and Army personnel, and local people are working together to investigate the crime. We are trying to identify a suspect in the killing," he said.

Yan Lin Aung retired from the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, about six years ago, according to Sai Tun Nyan, a state lawmaker from Kyaukme Township who was a friend of the victim.

"He was a good man, and friendly," Sai Tun Nyan said.

Yan Lin Aung operated several businesses in the town, including selling property and renting out rooms. He also operated a "KTV" karaoke parlor.

Some locals suspected he was killed because he refused to pay taxes to an ethnic armed group in the area. However, others said his military background may have made him a target, speculating that he was providing information to the Tatmadaw about rebel troop movements in the township, Sai Tun Nyan said.

Several ethnic armed groups are active in Kyaukme Township, including the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSSS). Fighting often breaks out between the ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar Army. The rival ethnic armed groups also occasionally fight each other.

A senior Buddhist monk who was influential in the Shan community was killed in Kyaukme in October last year. No one has yet been arrested for his killing.

Sai Tun Nyan said it was difficult to investigate such crimes, as Myanmar authorities do not have a strong influence on residents of the township.

The post Ex-Army Officer Shot Dead in Northern Shan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rakhine State Couple Killed by Artillery Shell Found in Forest

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 02:43 AM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — A couple died in Rakhine State's Ponnagyun Township on Wednesday when an artillery shell they had found in the forest exploded on their way home.

Ko Maung Oo Tun, 33, and his wife, Ma Hsan, 29, from Ahtet Thin Pone Tan Village, found an artillery shell while cutting wood in the forest and decided to take it home. But the shell exploded on their way back, said village administrator U Thein Sein.

"They went to the forest near the village to cut wood and they found an artillery shell there. They took it and it seems they played with it on their boat while heading home," he told The Irrawaddy.

Two other villagers were on the boat with the couple but were not injured as the shell exploded in the center and they were seated at either end.

Ko Maung Oo Tun died immediately and Ma Hsan died while being taken to the hospital in Poe Shue Pyin Village.

Ko Aung, a member of the Poe Shue Pyin Alliance Social Assistance Organization, said local civil society groups and government agencies were helping the couple’s families with funeral arrangements.

In a post to its Facebook page, the alliance said Ko Maung Oo Tun was applying a knife to the shell when it went off.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Rakhine State Couple Killed by Artillery Shell Found in Forest appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rakhine State Man Files Police Complaint Accusing Soldiers of Assaulting Son

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 01:40 AM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — The father of a high school student has filed a police complaint accusing a Myanmar military battalion in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township of assaulting his son.

U Shwe Sein Oo told The Irrawaddy that his son, Maung Zaw Naing Naing Htay, was riding his motorbike on Feb. 21 when a group of soldiers in a car blocked his path. He said his son showed them his student ID card, but the soldiers hit him in the temple of his head with a gun barrel and took him to the Battalion 539 barracks nearby before releasing him later the same day.

U Shwe Sein Oo said his son spent that night at a friend’s house, but the next day began to feel faint and behave strangely.

“In the morning he told me about what happened to him,” he said. “Then in the evening he said his temples and his body hurt, and he almost lost consciousness and cried hysterically that soldiers were coming. Then we sent him to Kyauktaw Hospital."

He said he filed a complaint against the battalion on Monday with the Kyauktaw Township police under four sections of the Penal Code — 114, 325, 342 and 352 — for assault, causing grievous hurt, wrongful confinement, and aiding and abetting.

"I am so sad that this happened when my son is about to sit for the matriculation exam. I filed the complaint because my son has not recovered," U Shwe Sein Oo said.

The exam, the most important in Myanmar for admission to university, is usually held in the first and second weeks of March.

Maung Zaw Naing Naing Htay was later transferred to Sittwe People's Hospital, where an Irrawaddy reporter visited him on Tuesday. He appeared to not recognize his family members and to need assistance to drink. His family took him out of Sittwe People’s Hospital on Wednesday to send him to Yangon for further medical care.

The head of the Kyauktaw Township police station confirmed receipt of the complaint.

"We have received a complaint and we will investigate in response," Capt. Soe Lwin told The Irrawaddy.

Rakhine State Security and Border Affairs Minister Col. Phone Tint said he was not familiar with the details of the case but would investigate once police finished their report.

"If the police report to us, we will check if it is true or not," he said.

A military spokesman said the people who allegedly attacked Maung Zaw Naing Naing Htay were probably members of the Arakan Army (AA) — an ethnic armed group the military is currently fighting in northern Rakhine — dressed as Myanmar military soldiers.

"They accused the Tatmadaw [military] of abducting him and said online that the student could not even speak. But the reality is that he was abducted by the AA," said Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a member of the military’s True News Information Team.

The military has also retaliated against the family.

Battalion 375, whose barracks are near where Maung Zaw Naing Naing Htay was allegedly stopped and attacked, has filed a complaint with the Kyauktaw Township Court accusing U Shwe Sein Oo and another man, U Kyaw Hla Myint, of defamation.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Rakhine State Man Files Police Complaint Accusing Soldiers of Assaulting Son appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Timeout

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 01:37 AM PST

Thar Nge IV Trio Live

This three-person live act is the latest edition of Myanmar's famous band The Four. Headed by the much-loved and talented Thar Nge, they will play a set of relaxing acoustic and blues favorites at Atlas' breezy rooftop venue for an ideal wind down with friends and drinks on Friday evening.

March 1 | 8 p.m. | Atlas Rooftop Bar & Lounge | Uniteam Building, 84 Pan Hlaing Street, Sanchaung Township |

Farmers Festival

At this weekend's very popular Farmers Market, enjoy a series of special events aimed at celebrating "the hardworking backbone of this country that makes up 70% of the labor force", the farmers. As well as the usual stalls selling fresh, natural, local produce, the lineup of events includes chances to attend cooking demonstrations, a fermenting workshop, a kids' scavenger hunt, a lucky draw and music.

March 2 | 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Karaweik Gardens | Kandawgyi Nature Park, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township

Parami Talks Series: Reforms and Challenges

This edition of the regular Parami Talks events organized by Parami Institute of Liberal Arts & Sciences will feature an important and influential figurehead of Myanmar's economy. Aung Naing Oo, director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations will share his experiences in leading reforms in Myanmar, promoting investment in the country and the challenges that come with international investments. The talk will be in English and registration is recommended.

March 2 | 6:30 p.m. | Parami Institute of Liberal Arts & Sciences | Shwe Gone Plaza, Intersection of Kabar Aye Pagoda Road and Shwe Gone Daing Road, Bahan Township

Consume: Installation by Myint Soe

This is an art installation by renowned artist Myint Soe on the topic of consumption. The exhibition runs for a week and the opening ceremony will take place at the gallery between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday.

March 2 to 8 | Nawaday Tharlar Gallery | Room No. 304, 20/B, Yaw Min Gyi Street, Dagon Township

Open Lab: Yogyakarta Meets Yangon

As part of the Space Exchange program organized by Myanm/art and sponsored by Myanm/art, the Japan Foundation Yangon and Noise in Yangon, two Indonesian art stars have come to Yangon. Curator Grace Samboh and artist Togar will create an open studio at Myanm/art and discuss the intersections of art, poetry and music.

March 2 | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. | Myanm/art | 3FL, 98 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township

Women's Rights Week at the French Institute

The French Institute will host a week-long event schedule as part of International Women's Day on March 8. Myanmar artist Chuu Wei Nyein will have an art exhibition focusing on women's empowerment throughout the week. On Tuesday there will be documentary screenings on women and peace in Myanmar which opens with a performance by Ma Ei. Thursday and Friday will have see the ground-breaking international play The Vagina Monologues told with a local twist. And on Saturday, a screening of French film, The One (English subtitles).

March 4 to 9 | Institut Français de Birmanie | 340, Pyay Road, Sanchaung Township |

Open Data Day

Phandeeyar will begin hosting a series of events called Civic Tech Talks and this is the first event lineup in which Yangon joins the rest of the world in marking an international Open Data Day. The event is co-hosted by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Phandeeyar, and The Asia Foundation will bring international and local data actors together for panel discussions, case studies discussions, and knowledge sharing sessions. Registration required.

March 4 | 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | Phandeeyar | 10th Floor, Royal Riverview Condo, 628/636 Merchant Road

Yangoods Academy

This is an event for designers who are looking to gain knowledge from industry experts, to get insights into fashion careers or to bring Myanmar fashion to the rest of the world. A professor of apparel design and merchandising from Seattle Pacific University, USA, Dr. Jaeil Lee will talk about careers in the global fashion industry. Yangoods brand manager Hadrien Amezza will speak on the topic of fashion beyond clothing. RVSP recommended.

March 4 | 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. | Pansuriya | 100 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township

Myanmore Awards Night

This is one of the biggest events of the year for the dining and nightlife industry in Myanmar and this year, Myanmore is said to have added a travel awards section to the lineup. The biggest movers and shakers in Yangon and beyond will be commended for their hard work and talent. Awards include Chef of the Year, Restaurant of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year to name a few. The glamourous event has a "black and silver" dress code and tickets ($50) include a three-course meal.

March 6 | 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. | Novotel Hotel | Pyay Road, Kamayut Township

JCI Inya Kick Off Party

This event marks the launch of JCI Inya, the Myanmar chapter of Junior Chamber International. The nonprofit group is aimed at gathering 18 to 40 year olds for working together to embracing new ideas to create positive transformations in the local community.

March 6 | 9 p.m. | 50th Street Restaurant & Bar | 9/13 50th Street (Lower Block), Botahtaung Township

Saudades Art Exhibition

Four artists from across the world will exhibit their work at Gallery 65 for four days. The collective works of artists Ardy Timmer-Cuijpers (Netherlands), Mafi Espirito Santo (Portugal/ S Africa), Sandar Khaing (Myanmar), and Zun Ei Phyu (Myanmar) will be shown. Saudade in Portuguese is a key emotion word that conveys "a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves." The four artists explore, recollect, re-enact and retrace what has since passed but remains alive in their consciousness.

March 7 to 10 | Gallery 65 | No. 65, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon Township

The post Yangon Timeout appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliament Abolishes Legal Affairs Commission

Posted: 28 Feb 2019 01:31 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—Myanmar's Union Parliament on Thursday voted against extending the term of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission headed by ex-general and former Lower House speaker U Shwe Mann.

Only 20 lawmakers voted in favor of extending the commission, while 555 voted against with 10 abstentions.

The commission was formed on March 1, 2016 for a term of one year. Military-appointed lawmakers have repeatedly raised objections to extending the panel's term, saying its work was unconstitutional. This time, a majority of lawmakers agreed with their call to abolish the commission, mainly because of U Shwe Mann's recent re-entry into politics. On Feb. 5, U Shwe Mann applied to the Union Election Commission to register a new political party, the Union Betterment Party.

"Our party has helped him along, [asking him] to serve as a referee. As he will be participating in politics, he can no longer act as referee. That's why," said a Lower House lawmaker of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) who asked not to be named.

Retired General U Ko Ko Naing, a member of the commission, told The Irrawaddy that U Shwe Mann was still working at the commission's office and would continue to do so until Parliament formally informs him of the commission's abolition.

In an interview with One News Myanmar, U Shwe Mann said in early February that the future of the commission would depend on negotiations between him and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as it was formed with their bilateral agreement.

On his Facebook page, U Shwe Mann said his party will work towards building a democratic federal union; developing the economy; systematic development of education, healthcare and culture; and establishing rule of law, stability, equality and peace.

He added that the new party would work to establish a constitution that is suitable for the country.

U Shwe Mann was considered the third-most-powerful man in the military regime that came to power in a coup in 1988. He graduated from the No. 11 Intake of the Defense Services Academy in 1965. He was promoted to the rank of general in 2010 and appointed Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air).

He retired from the military (or Tatmadaw) along with then President U Thein Sein and other generals to join the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). He was voted into Parliament in 2010 and elected Lower House Speaker.

U Shwe Mann was purged from the USDP's top position in August 2015 during a power struggle with U Thein Sein. He was called a turncoat by USDP supporters due to political maneuvering that led him to ally with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy leader, ahead of the 2015 election.

Though he lost to an NLD candidate in the 2015 election, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appointed U Shwe Mann to head the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission of Myanmar's Parliament in 2016.

The post Parliament Abolishes Legal Affairs Commission appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Court Hands Frenchman One Month in Prison For Flying Drone Over Parliament

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 08:39 PM PST

YANGON — A Myanmar court has sentenced a French national to one month in prison for violating an import-export law by bringing a drone into the country and flying it above Parliament, France’s embassy said on Wednesday.

Police arrested Arthur Desclaux, 27, on Feb. 7 with an unmanned aerial vehicle in Naypyitaw — Myanmar’s purpose-built capital known for its oversized official buildings and wide, empty roads.

A judge in the capital convicted Desclaux under Myanmar’s law on imports and exports and handed him a one-month sentence on Wednesday afternoon, a French embassy official said.

The law allows for penalties of up to three years in prison for breaches on import rules.

“We understand that the judge has taken into account his good faith,” the embassy official said, explaining that Desclaux said he was not aware that importing or flying the drone was prohibited in Myanmar.

Myanmar officials say certain areas, such as Parliament, are off-limits to drone flying, but tourists are not explicitly warned about the restrictions.

In 2017, two foreign journalists for Turkish state TV station TRT World and their interpreter spent two months in a Myanmar jail for attempting to fly a drone near the legislature. The three pleaded guilty to breaching the colonial-era Aircraft Act.

The post Myanmar Court Hands Frenchman One Month in Prison For Flying Drone Over Parliament appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Trump Touts Rapport with North Korea’s Kim at Summit, ‘Satisfied’ with Talks

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 08:33 PM PST

HANOI—U.S. President Donald Trump hailed “a very special relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they met in Vietnam for a second summit on Wednesday and said he was satisfied with the pace of denuclearization talks despite some criticism they were not moving quickly enough.

The U.S. president appeared upbeat with Kim even as on the other side of the world in Washington his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen called Trump a “conman” who knew in advance about the release of stolen emails aimed at hurting his Democratic rival in the 2016 election campaign.

“Great meetings” and a “Very good dialogue,” Trump said on Twitter after dinner with Kim at Hanoi’s French-colonial-era Metropole hotel while the White House said the two planned to sign a “joint agreement” after further talks on Thursday.

Facing increasing political and legal pressure at home over investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, Trump has devoted significant time and effort to trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for promises of peace and development, a foreign policy goal that has confounded multiple predecessors.

The Hanoi meeting was Trump’s second meeting with Kim in eight months and he appeared to reiterate recent statements that he was in no rush.

“We had a very successful first summit,” he told Kim. “I felt it was very successful, and some people would like to see it go quicker; I'm satisfied; you're satisfied, we want to be happy with what we’re doing.”

Asked by a reporter if he was “walking back” on denuclearization demands, Trump said “no”.

Trump and Kim held a 20-minute, one-on-one chat before they sat down to dinner with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Kim’s top envoy Kim Yong Chol and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.

On Thursday, the two leaders are scheduled for a series of meetings at the Metropole, beginning with another one-on-one session lasting 45 minutes, the White House said.

The two leaders would hold a “joint agreement signing ceremony,” at the end of the meetings, which would be followed by a news conference by Trump at 3:50 p.m. Hanoi time.

The White House has given no indication as to what the signing ceremony might involve, although the two sides have held discussions that have included the possibility of a political statement to declare the 1950-53 Korean War over, which some critics say would be premature.

Asked if he would declare a formal end to the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty that North Korea has long sought, Trump said: "We'll see."

Their summit in Singapore in June was the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader and ended with fanfare but little substance.

Trump and Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, but there has been little progress since. Kim said they had overcome obstacles to meet a second time and praised Trump for his “courageous decision” to begin a dialogue.

“Now that we’re meeting here again like this, I’m confident that there will be an excellent outcome that everyone welcomes, and I’ll do my best to make it happen,” Kim said.

“We're going to have a very busy day tomorrow," a smiling, relaxed-looking Trump, said seated beside Kim at a round dinner table with the other four officials and two interpreters.

“Our relationship is a very special relationship.”

Observers said the pair were at pains to show their relationship had improved since June, with their body language closely mirroring each other.

Leverage

Trump said late last year he and Kim “fell in love”, but whether the bonhomie can move them beyond summit pageantry to substantive progress on eliminating a North Korean nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States is the big question.

Trump indicated a more flexible stance in the run-up to Hanoi, saying he was in no rush on denuclearization as long as North Korea, which has not tested a nuclear weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017, maintained that freeze.

Trump risks squandering vital leverage if he gives away too much, too quickly, critics said.

Evans Revere, a former U.S. negotiator with North Korea, said Trump was under pressure given his domestic problems and “Kim may be tempted to push Trump even harder for concessions, knowing how much the president wants and needs that testing pause.”

Daniel Russel, who served as the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia until early in Trump’s presidency, said telling Kim that he could take his time was anything but strategically wise.

“The yardstick for assessing … results is not whether Trump proclaims himself ‘happy,’ but whether the outcome takes North Korea measurably closer to revealing and dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”

U.S. intelligence officials have said there is no sign North Korea will give up its entire arsenal of nuclear weapons, which Kim’s ruling family sees as vital to its survival, and analysts say Pyongyang is unlikely to commit to significant steps without an easing of punishing U.S.-led sanctions.

The two sides have discussed partial denuclearization measures, such as allowing inspectors to observe the dismantlement of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor, U.S. and South Korean officials say.

U.S. concessions could include opening liaison offices or clearing the way for inter-Korean projects.

Trump has appeared to be betting on his personal relationship with Kim, and the economic incentive after 70 years of hostility between their countries.

“Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize,” Trump said on Twitter ahead of the meeting.

The post Trump Touts Rapport with North Korea’s Kim at Summit, ‘Satisfied’ with Talks appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Steak and Kimchi: N.Korean, Western Chefs Prepared Trump-Kim Dinner

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 08:16 PM PST

HANOI — For sufferers of nuclear anxiety, how about a little dried persimmon punch to settle the stomach?

North Korean chefs helped prepare the dinner shared by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their first meeting in Hanoi on Wednesday, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Trump and Kim met in the Vietnamese capital for the second summit since their first historic meeting in June last year and had dinner at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in the center of Hanoi.

“Great meetings and dinner tonight in Vietnam with Kim Jong Un of North Korea,” Trump said in a message on social network Twitter late on Wednesday.

Chefs from North Korea worked together with staff at the colonial-era hotel to create a medley of Western and Korean dishes for the two leaders as they chewed over their differences, the two sources said.

The result was an evening that blended two American and two Korean dishes, according to a copy of the menu released by the White House late on Wednesday.

The two Western dishes, a shrimp cocktail and a “hot and runny-centered” chocolate lava cake, were created by chefs at the hotel, the sources said.

The two Korean dishes — grilled steak with a pear kimchi and a non-alcoholic dried persimmon punch digestif — were prepared by North Korean chefs specially brought in for the event, the sources added.

It was not the first time Trump had tried the sweet persimmon drink. South Korean President Moon Jae-in served it to him as a dessert during a 2017 meeting.

The punch, which is designed to aid digestion at the end of a meal, tasted “really good,” one of the sources told Reuters.

The post Steak and Kimchi: N.Korean, Western Chefs Prepared Trump-Kim Dinner appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Daw Saw Hsa, Myanmar’s First Female Surgeon and Lawmaker

Posted: 27 Feb 2019 06:00 PM PST

Today marks the 57th anniversary of the death of Daw Saw Hsa, Myanmar's first female surgeon and lawmaker. She received her F.R.C.S from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1912, when doctors were rare in Myanmar, and completed a diploma course in public health at the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland.

Born in 1884, she was also the first female lawmaker in the Upper House of Parliament, appointed by the governor of British Burma, and the first female member of the Yangon municipal committee. She was named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Daw Saw Hsa was known for her hospital for the poor in Yangon's Sanchang Township from 1922 to 1940, and for the health care services she provided leprosy patients in Minbu in central Myanmar and war victims in Bago Region during World War II.

Her book "Manual for Midwives" became a seminal contribution to the field. Before and after independence, she worked with several committees and organizations serving leprosy patients, orphans and women.

"Daw Saw Hsa was very patient. She treated patients more with love and kindness than medicines," said one relative.

Never married, Daw Saw Hsa died on Feb. 28, 1962, at the age of 78.

by Wei Yan Aung

The post Daw Saw Hsa, Myanmar's First Female Surgeon and Lawmaker appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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