Burma and North Korea Resume Diplomatic Relationship

Burma and North Korea have agreed to restore diplomatic relations after a break in 1983, according to this BBC article.

Burma broke ties with North Korea in 1983, accusing Pyongyang of a bomb attack when South Korea's president Chun Doo-hwan visited Rangoon. The question is why the two secretive and isolated regimes choose to restore ties now.

This article says, it is the need of their respective self-interest -- North Korea needs Burma's natural resources, such as oil, gas and timber, while Burma's rulers need access to military equipment, which has been blocked by US and European sanctions.

This article urges me to vote for the engagement policy again. If we continue to isolate those countries, North Korea, Burma, etc., they will probably form a bloc. At that time, they will be harder to deal with.