I was struck by the comments made by Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, in Simon Roughneen's article, "Myanmar's ties to N. Korea escape scrutiny" (Page 1, Sunday). He said that Burma has no need for nuclear weapons or a nuclear-weapons program because "no one is threatening Burma's security for them to need a deterrent."

This implies that other countries such as Iran, Syria and North Korea have or have had illegal nuclear-weapons programs because they are threatened. By whom? South Korea, Japan and the United States are threatened by North Korea and have been the target of assassinations, bombings and kidnappings orchestrated by Pyongyang - not the other way around. North Korea recently kidnapped three South Korean fishermen. Iran is at war with Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel, and it supports myriad terror groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and al Qaeda.