US wants Myanmar to cut ties with N. Korea: Mitchell

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Myanmar should offer assurances that it has severed all illicit ties with North Korea if it wants a normalization of relations with the United States, a high-profile envoy said Wednesday.
"We have been quite consistent and direct in public and private about our continuing concerns about the lack of transparency and Burma's military relationship with North Korea," said Derek Mitchell, the nominee to become Washington's ambassador to Myanmar, also known as Burma.
He was speaking at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee more than a month after his nomination.
Mitchell, a veteran diplomat with expertise in Asia, said if confirmed he would place a priority on Myanmar's suspected military ties with North Korea.
He also vowed to "be clear that our bilateral relationship can never be fully normalized until we are fully satisfied any illicit ties to North Korea have ended once and for all."
Mitchell has served as the U.S. special representative and policy coordinator for Burma since 2011.
His nomination came amid a burgeoning thaw in relations between the two sides, spurred by reform measures by the Myanmar authorities that were highlighted by the election of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament.
Making a historic trip to Myanmar in November, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged leaders there to end all illicit contacts with North Korea.
Myanmar is alleged to have been an importer of North Korean weapons.