Earlier, SHAN was able to talk only to sources close to the leadership but rarely one of its members.

The official, who asked not to be named, told SHAN the UWSA’s arsenal held only armaments from other sources, declining to name them. “We wouldn’t know how to contact them (the North Koreans) let alone buy weapons from them,” he said.

China has long been known as the UWSA’s main arms supplier, but it has also been reported that the UWSA has been out other “lords of war” (a new euphemism for gun runners) since tensions with Naypyitaw arose following April 2009 when the latter demanded that it accept the status of Border Guard Force (BGF), an armed unit still commanded by Wa but administered by Burmese officers.

The 11 June 2012 North Korean arms story can be read in Shan, Burmese and Thai versions.