Burma : Request G20 countries to put pressure on India supporting the military council

Burmese military council arms, Burma Campaign UK has called on the G20 member states to put pressure on India's Prime Minister Modi, who is backing him financially and diplomatically. The G20 industrial summit is being held this weekend in New Delhi, India.

A report earlier this year by the United Nations Special Envoy for Myanmar stated that India had provided the Burmese Military Council with $51 million worth of weapons and related military equipment since February 2021.

Burma Campaign UK's statement says that India continues to support the Burmese military even though it has been on trial for crimes against humanity and genocide since before the seizure of power.

He also said that after the coup, the Burmese military has increasingly committed human rights violations that can be classified as war crimes. The statement stated that many Myanmar civil organizations have also documented the atrocities committed by the Myanmar military on a daily basis.

In Myanmar, thousands of people have been killed, twenty-five thousand people have been arrested, and two million people have fled their homes. Burmese refugees who fled into India were arrested by the Indian authorities without giving them legal residence permits. beating The statement also stated that he was detained and threatened to be sent back to his mother country.

Anna Roberts, executive director of the Burma Campaign UK, said that world leaders currently in India are failing to challenge Prime Minister Modi on their support for Burma.

Anna Roberts also said that the G20 meeting is an opportunity for world leaders to come together to stop Modi from providing military equipment to the Burmese military, which is bombing schools and hospitals.

North Korea : Car-free New Yalu River Bridge ‘occupied’ by corn

A view of the New Yalu River Bridge taken by Planet Labs, an American commercial satellite, on September 1. Foundation construction has not yet begun at the customs site on the North Korean side, and corn was seen being spread out to dry on the road.

As North Korea resumed human exchanges for the first time in three years and seven months following the coronavirus pandemic, attention is focused on whether the border between North Korea and China will be fully opened .

Among them, there is speculation that the New Yalu River Bridge, a symbol of economic cooperation between North Korea and China, may soon open. However, according to satellite photos taken on September 1st , it is expected that it will take quite some time until it opens .

In particular, North Korea's preparations are very slow. There has been no progress in foundation construction on the site where the customs office will be built for the past six months . It looks as if the New Yalu River Bridge has been neglected, with corn being spread out to dry on the road . Let's take a look at the current situation of the New Yalu River Bridge as of September .

It will take some time until the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge.

Researcher Jeong Seong-hak . As people-to-people exchanges have recently resumed between North Korea and China, interest in the New Yalu Bridge is growing . I'm also hearing that there is a possibility that the New Yalu River Bridge will open soon . What does the New Yalu Bridge look like in recent satellite photos ?
Yes . We looked at a satellite image taken by Planet Labs , an American commercial satellite, on September 1st . As you mentioned, with the recent resumption of people-to-people exchanges between North Korea and China, interest is also focused on the preparations for the opening of the New Yalu River Bridge, along with speculation that the border will soon be completely opened . However, according to satellite image analysis, it appears that it will take some more time for the New Yalu Bridge to open . Looking at satellite photos taken on September 1, Dandong City, China, has completed the road connection and construction of a customs office, with only the finishing touches left to prepare for opening , while North Korea has only created a site for a customs office and has no facilities for this . There is no sign of any movement of foundation construction . Also, at the bottom of the customs area ,A yellow object can be seen spread out on the road at the end of the New Yalu River Bridge , and it appears to be corn harvested in the field being dried in the sun .

Ah , this yellow part was corn that was hung out to dry . The New Yalu Bridge is a symbol of economic cooperation between North Korea and China , and it is strange that corn is being spread out to dry on the road even though it has been 9 years since the bridge was completed . I think this shows the current state of the neglected New Yalu Bridge .
Yes . In North Korea , it is common to see barley in the spring and corn in the fall being spread out to dry on major roads, on the roofs of buildings , or in large open spaces . This is not just the New Yalu Bridge . Even in satellite photos taken of the Yongbyon nuclear facility, you can often see yellow material drying on the roads around the 5- megawatt nuclear reactor every spring and fall . It looks like harvested wheat, corn , barley, etc. being dried . In addition, in the satellite photo of the ' Gwaul Airfield ' in Kwail-gun, South Hwanghae Province, taken on October 24 , 2020 , a yellow area measuring 95 m wide and 14 m long is visible on the road connecting the underground hangar and runway . This also shows corn being hung out in the sun to dry for long-term storage .

So, can we say that the reason why the New Yalu Bridge is not opening is because there is still no progress in construction on the North Korean side ?

We have already analyzed the situation of the New Yalu River Bridge from a satellite photo taken on February 25th . Even at that time, North Korea's preparedness was considerably inadequate compared to China's. If you look at the satellite image, you can see that the agricultural land where the customs facility will be built has been plowed and  only a large vacant lot of about  40 hectares has been created . However, there was no activity related to customs construction . There are no traces of foundation work , and  no construction materials have been placed . We were able to confirm that the land where the rice paddies had been reclaimed had been left abandoned for nearly  9 years . Even after six months, it seems difficult to predict the opening date of the New Yalu Bridge, as there are no signs of foundation construction at the site where the customs office will be built .

So , could you please explain again what kind of bridge the New Yalu Bridge is and why it was built ?
Currently, there is a Yalu River Railroad Bridge between Dandong, China, and Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province . In the meantime , human and material exchanges took place through this bridge . However, the railway is a single track and is so old and old that freight vehicles weighing more than 20 tons cannot travel on it . So, the New Yalu Bridge was built as a four- lane road . When originally constructing the New Yalu Bridge, North Korea and China agreed to build it in a 50:50 ratio, and  promised to start on both sides of the Yalu River and meet each other in the middle of the river. So China started construction first, but even when construction was completed, North Korea had not even started yet, so China ended up constructing the remaining section. After many twists and turns,  the New Yalu River Bridge was completed in 2014, but it was reported that it could not be opened because North Korea requested China to construct auxiliary facilities. Also, it is said that the bridge cannot be used because the connecting road from the southern end of the New Yalu River Bridge to Namsinuiju Station is not under construction.It is also said that the opening of the bridge is being delayed because North Korea is requesting China to even construct this connecting road.

The land where North Korea's customs office will be built was created, but it has been left abandoned for nearly 9 years. As of September, there are no significant changes.

If you compare what you have said so far with the satellite photos, I think you will understand why North Korea is slow in construction . In conclusion, it is expected that it will take more time for the New Yalu Bridge to open, right ?
That's right . While people-to-people exchanges have resumed between North Korea and China, the New Yalu River Bridge has not changed much for at least the past six months . In particular, there was no clear movement on the North Korean side . There is a lot of construction work to be done in the future , and it will likely take a long time . Of course, as it is impossible to predict when the North Korea-China border will be fully opened for people-to-people exchanges, it is expected that it will take some more time before the New Yalu Bridge opens .

Yes . Today, while human exchanges have resumed between North Korea and China, we looked at the current state and possibility of opening the New Yalu Bridge, which has not been opened for nearly 9 years . ' Zoom in North Korea ' That's all for today's order . So far, we have been working with researcher Jeong Hak Jeong, a satellite photography expert .