Also in celebration of 25th anniversary of bilateral relations

Ambassador U Soe Lwin of Myanmar and Military Naval & Air Attach? Brig. Gen. Myint Hein hosted a reception at the Convention Center of the Ministry of Defense in Samgakji, Seoul on March 24, 2015 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Myanmar Armed Forces Day and the 25h anniversary of establishment of the diplomatic relations between Korea and Myanmar.
There were many distinguished guests from the military circles of Korea and Myanmar as well as the Diplomatic Corps and various segments of Korean society.
Among them were Vice Minister Baek Seung-joo of National Defense, Rear Admiral (Maj. Gen.) Lee Bum-lim of the Korean Navy (who was promoted to Vice Admiral [Lt. Gen.] and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations in April), Lt. Gen. Hla Min of Myanmar Armed Forces, and many defense attaches from the different embassies in Seoul.

Speaking to the guests, Lt. Gen. Hla Min said, “This year is a special one because we are celebrating not only the 70th Anniversary of Myanmar Armed Forces Day but also the 25th Anniversary of the relations between two militaries of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and Republic of Korea.”
Then there was a congratulatory speech by Brig. Gen.Myint Hein of Myanmar who said:“No nation could be founded without blood, toil and sweat of her own people. Myanmar, as well, was founded with her people’s sacrifices. They put the country and others before themselves. Throughout the history, our Armed Forces have originated with the fight for country’s independence and, guarded and protected against the colonization along with the cooperation of the government and people.” (See excerpts from his speech.)
There were beautiful dance performances by young ladies of Myanmar.

Excerpts from the speech of Brig. Gen. Myint Hein of Myanmar:
Today marks our 70th Anniversary ofMyanmar Armed Forces Day.Moreover,25th Anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and Republic of Korea will be fall in June 2015. So this ceremony is to commemorate both anniversaries. I, on behalf of our people and country, would like to express my appreciation for your presence here with us on this very significant day.
To attend this special occasion, Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing sent a senior delegation lead by the Lieutenant General Hla Min with the strong desire to improve the relations between the two countries.
No nation could be founded without blood, toil and sweat of her own people. Myanmar, as well, was founded with her people’s sacrifices. They have put the country and others before themselves. Throughout the history, our Armed Forces have originated with the fight for country’s independence and, guarded and protected against the colonization along with the cooperation of the government and people. We have won so many battles and survived many wars, thanks to the persistent and patriotic spirit of our people. Myanmar Armed Forces have been established together with fight against invasion and independence struggle. Thus, we celebrate today as a day when the rest of us can show our patriotic support for all these heroes, and their outstanding contribution to our country.
Military is an essential to protect Nation, peace and sovereignty. Hence we need to construct a strong, powerful, and modernized military. A military should strive to organize within organization on, military and people. Defending the nation together with people’s power, a country’s defense services personnel are required to perform their duties not only from the military point of view but also from the administrative, political and economic points of view.

These days, we have developed relations with countries from all over the world, which, in turn, calls for the international cooperation to contribute to the regional and world’s peace and development. These are first and foremost objectives of Myanmar Armed Forces.
A country could only develop only when there is peace. It could only achieve stronger only when there is cooperation among its people. It could only grow only when there is discipline. Myanmar Armed Forces do understand and we do keep that in mind when we pursue the peace and development of our country.
After the visit of the President Madam Park Geun Hye to worldwide, we have seen that there are improvements and success in international relations, cooperation with other nations for country’s economy and defending, and discussion for global affairs and humanitarian assistances. To compare with previous year, I would like to say on behalf of Myanmar Armed Forces that we are very much glad to see these development and improvements in Republic of Korea.
When Madam, Park Geun Hye, the President of the Republic of Korea has attended the 25th ASEAN Summit and 9th East Asia Summit which were held in Myanmar held a press conference along with U Thein Sein, the President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Also, the two presidents had a bilateral meeting at the 2014 ASEAN-Republic of Korea, Commemorative Summit in Busan in December. They discussed about promotion of cooperation on governments, people, parliaments and armed forces between two countries. The talk focused on cooperation in the agriculture, livestock breeding, industrial and rural development sector; improvement of SME industries for production of value added agricultural and livestock products; promotion of trade, investment, culture, education and health sectors; development of ports, waterways, electricity and energy sectors, peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula; and non proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Furthermore, Myanmar Commander in Chief, senior general Min Aung Hlaing paid a visit to the Republic of Korea from 28th September to 1st October, 2014 to enhance diplomatic relations between the two countries. The army chief met the president of Republic of Korea, Madam Park Geun Hye,Minister of National Defense and Chairman, Joint Chief of staff and talked about improved relations and collaboration between the two countries.
Likewise, Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Choi Yoon Hee visited to Myanmar from 21st to 23rd January 2015 and met the President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, U Thein Sein and held a talk about the bilateral relations between people and government of the two countries, endeavors of armed forces of each country in peace and security measures, the role of Armed forces in democratization process in Myanmar and promotion of investment opportunities.
Exchange of visits between the two army chiefs of the two countries has, no doubt, brought the bilateral friendship to a new level. The two countries share a similar history in their struggle for reconciliation, for instance; South Korea is making efforts for the reunification of South and North Korea while Myanmar is striving to strengthen unity among eight major ethnic groups.

Myanmar has a strong confidence in the Republic of Korea and we gladly welcome to the idea of further civil and military cooperation on all front.
Our commander in chief also expressed ardent desires for seeing the reunification of South and North Korea, for the Korea Peninsula as a nuclear-free zone, as well as for non-proliferation and destruction of nuclear weapons and the constructive use of nuclear energy in public interests.
The exchanged trips of the presidents and army chiefs, bilateral talks and discussions, the collaboration between the two parliaments, invitations for the security dialogues and defense technology exhibitions, opportunities for Myanmar military personnel to join the training courses in Korea have led to a better and stronger relation between the two countries.
To better perform the tasks for the further promotion of the relations between the two countries and to reduce the unnecessary expenses on rent, the new Myanmar military attach? office and residential building was built and opened in Oaksu-dong in Seongdong-gu in order to commemorate the anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the militaries of the two countries. I, on behalf of my country, would like to thank those who have helped us with the construction and commencement of the new building and office, especially to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of theRepublic of Korea .
May the Presidents and the peoples in both Myanmar and Korea be prosperous, happy and healthy.
May the Korean and Myanmar militaries bring peace to their people and countries.

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