YANGON, Myanmar, April 26 (UPI) -- Myanmar and North Korea Thursday re-established diplomatic ties, ending their estrangement that goes back to 1983.
The two countries, among the most repressive and isolated in the world, had snapped their ties in 1983 following a bomb explosion during a visit to Myanmar, then known as Burma, by South Korea's President Chun Doo-hwan, reported the International Herald Tribune.
The bombing missed the South Korea president but 20 others were killed including high-ranking South Koreans. The bomb was believed to have been the work of North Korean agents.
The Tribune report said the restoration of the ties was quietly done during a North Korean visit to Myanmar's capital Yangon.
Relations between the two countries have improved in recent years as both have been coming pressure from the West, the report said. The ties restoration, however, is not expected to be anything more than symbolic, although Myanmar could be a source of cheap food for North Korea, the report said.
