Myanmar Military Junta Begins Serious Discussions with ASEAN Member States on Coup Resolution

Discussion Emphasizes Fair Conduct of Myanmar's New General Election
Civilians Shout "Oppose Reholding the General Election"

(Yangon AFP=Yonhap News) On the 24th (local time), Buddhist monks held a protest rally condemning the military coup in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, carrying placards. Since the coup broke out on the 1st, protests have continued daily in Myanmar, and the civil disobedience movement is spreading across all sectors of society.
sungok@yna.co.kr
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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] The Myanmar military government has begun serious discussions with neighboring Southeast Asian Nations Association (ASEAN) member countries on ways to resolve the coup situation.

According to foreign media on the 24th, U Nyan Lynn, Myanmar's military government foreign minister, visited Bangkok, Thailand, and held talks with Retno Marsudi, Indonesia's foreign minister who was already in the area, according to Tanee Sangrat, spokesperson for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The specific details of the discussions between the two sides were not immediately disclosed. However, since there were reports that Indonesia proposed sending an election monitoring team from ASEAN member countries to ensure that Myanmar's new general election is conducted fairly during consultations with ASEAN members, it is highly likely that this issue was a focus of the talks despite the Indonesian government's official denial.

Foreign media also reported, citing anonymous local sources, that U Nyan Maung Lynn met with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and held talks with Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai on the same day.

These moves by ASEAN member countries appear to be aimed at obtaining concessions from the military to ease tensions before the Myanmar situation escalates into more violence. It also reflects the judgment that dialogue is more effective than sanctions supported by Western countries.

However, the reholding of the general election is seen as legitimizing the Myanmar military coup, which has sparked strong opposition from Myanmar citizens continuing civil disobedience movements and protest demonstrations.

The Myanmar military seized power through a coup on the 1st, citing serious fraud in last November's general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory, and accusing the civilian government of failing to investigate it. Protests against this have entered their 19th day, and on the 24th, thousands of students, teachers, monks, and ethnic minorities took to the streets in Myanmar's largest city Yangon and second-largest city Mandalay. In Mandalay, a funeral was held for a teenager who died from live ammunition gunfire by military police on the 20th.

In particular, local media reported that hundreds gathered at the Indonesian embassy in downtown Yangon, shouting "Oppose the reholding of the general election." On local social networking services (SNS), posts such as "ASEAN, respect our vote (results). There is no need for a re-election" were continuously uploaded.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.