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| Monks from the Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, and Myanmar nationals residing in the country, conduct an "ochetuji" march from the Myanmar Embassy here to the office of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Seoul, Friday, calling for the recovery of democracy and peace in the Southeast Asian nation. Ochetuji is the Buddhist act of expressing respect for the Buddha by fully prostrating on the ground. Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
The Korean government has decided to suspend exports of military supplies to Myanmar and to reconsider all development cooperation with Yangon, in protest against the Southeast Asian country's recent coup and the junta's brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, the foreign ministry said, Friday.
On Feb. 1, Myanmar's military authorities seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders, and since then, at least 70 civilians have been killed, according to a United Nations human rights investigator.
"Despite repeated calls from Korea and the international community, Myanmar's military and police authorities have violently responded to protesters. As a result, we have made this decision," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
First of all, the government has put a halt to the exports of important industrial materials, including those that could support the military authorities' violent crackdown on protests. Although there has been no trade of military supplies between the two countries since January 2019, the Korean government is set to disallow it in the future regardless of improvements in the situation there.
Despite putting on hold all development cooperation, the government is set to continue humanitarian and other projects that are directly linked to the Myanmarese people's livelihoods.
"We have closely monitored the situation in Myanmar, while communicating with international partners, including the United States. Korea will make continuous efforts to contribute to the country restoring democracy," the ministry added.
In particular, the government plans to continue reviewing its responses to all possible situations, in order to protect Korean people and companies there, while taking extraordinary measures to permit Myanmarese people living in Korea to stay here even if their visas expire, until the situation is stabilized and the safety of the people in that country can be ensured.
Earlier this month, President Moon Jae-in condemned the military junta's violent crackdown and called for the release of Suu Kyi.
In addition, the National Assembly passed a resolution denouncing the military coup last month.
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