US President Joe Biden. EPA=Yonhap News
– On the 10th (local time), US President Joe Biden pulled out a sanction card against the Myanmar military who ordered a coup. The United States lifted most sanctions against Myanmar until September 2016 after the democratic national alliance led by advisor Aung San Suu Kyi won the general election in 2015, ending military domination.
President Biden said in a speech during the day that he had approved a new executive order on sanctions in Myanmar, “we will confirm the first target this week and impose strong export controls.” In addition, military leaders, related companies, and close family are the targets.
“We will take steps to prevent the military from improperly accessing the $1 billion of Burma (Myanmar) government funds in the U.S., while freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government, Areas such as healthcare will remain supported.”
He also criticized the Myanmar military’s violent suppression of protests against the coup, demanding the military abandonment of power and the immediate release of state advisor Aung San Suu Kyi.
–
A protest against a military coup was held in Yangon, Myanmar on the 10th (local time). EPA=Yonhap News
–
State Department spokesman Ned Price also strongly warned at a briefing on the same day that “the people responsible for the Myanmar coup will pay a considerable price.”
The first list of sanctions the Biden administration will soon release will include Supreme Commander Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup. Generals, including Supreme Commander Hlaing, have already been subject to US sanctions in 2019 for the slaughter of a minority Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar.
President Biden’s speech that day was not planned. It was announced about an hour before the start of the speech, and the speech was not as long as 4 minutes. It seems that the schedule was set urgently prior to the planned visit to the Ministry of Defense.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar military officially confirmed the coup on the 1st and declared a one-year emergency. Suu Kyi and President Yun Min were also detained at home. On the same day, President Biden condemned the coup in Myanmar as “a direct attack on democracy and the rule of law” and announced sanctions.
Reporter Seok-Hyun Ko [email protected]
–
