North Korea's first ambassador to Myanmar after a 24-year diplomatic rupture has taken up his post, state media reported Saturday, according to AP. Myanmar and North Korea _ both Asian pariah states due to their reputations for repression _ agreed to resume diplomatic ties when the North's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il visited the military-ruled nation in April. The countries' relations have warmed in recent years as Pyongyang has become a supplier to Myanmar's military. The two sides severed diplomatic relations and closed Pyongyang's Myanmar embassy in 1983, after North Korean commandos carried out a fatal bombing during a visit by South Korea's then-President Chun Doo-hwan. Chun was unhurt but 21 other people died, including four South Korean Cabinet ministers.
