What has Burma got to do with U.S.-Korea Relations?

Age is making me forgetful, and frivolous.

Attended the opening of a U.S.-Korean Relations conference last Friday, but can't seem to remember much of what had been said by the two keynote speakers.

Vaguely remember one of them - South Korean ambassador to the U.S. Lee Tae-sik - saying that the recent North Korean nuclear tests were "provocative," and that Pyongyang had chosen to take "the wrong path."

Overall, he must have said something to the effect that despite the crisis, the U.S.-Korean alliance had not been challenged, is still going strong, etc, etc, you know, the usual diplomatic niceties you expect to hear at such conferences.

But what I *do* remember were the self-deprecating comments Ambassador Lee made at the beginning of his address. He said speeches made by Korean diplomats were usually devoid of substance, and that he was sorry that the participants had to listen to his "propaganda."

He can't be more right. I remembered little of what he had said. But at least his self-deprecating disposition made an impression on me.

Oh wait, there is another thing I remember, and it came from one of the paper presenters, David Steinberg from Georgetown University. He said the United States wanted to overthrow Burma (or Myanmar) because Rangoon is the weakest link in Washington's desire to contain China.

Maybe I have selective amnesia. Or maybe I have an antennae that picks up only random information these days.