US President Joe Biden. EPA=Yonhap News
On the 10th (local time), US President Joe Biden took out a sanction card against a military leader who ordered a coup in Myanmar. The United States lifted most of the sanctions against Myanmar until September 2016 when the military domination was ended after the democratic national alliance led by advisor Aung San Suu Kyi won the general election in 2015.
President Biden said in a speech during the day that he 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 US$1 billion government funding of the Burmese (Myanmar) government, while freezing US 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 and demanded the military’s renunciation 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 from the beginning. 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 before the planned visit to the Ministry of Defense.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar military officially confirmed the coup on the 1st (Korean time) 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 Myanmar coup as “a direct attack on democracy and the rule of law” and warned of sanctions.
Reporter Go Seok-hyun [email protected]