{"id":56016,"date":"2026-03-31T10:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/?p=56016"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:39:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:39:40","slug":"myanmars-former-spymaster-ye-win-oo-rises-to-become-military-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/?p=56016","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar&#8217;s former spymaster Ye Win Oo rises to become military chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Reuters)   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">March 31  &#8211; When Myanmar&#8217;s military ousted a democratically elected government in a dawn coup on February 1, 2021, Ye Win Oo led the contingent of troops that arrested Nobel \u200bPeace Prize winner and the country&#8217;s then leader Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, the 60-year-old general was appointed the commander-in-chief of Myanmar&#8217;s military, which has dominated \u200cdomestic politics for decades, catapulting the former spymaster into one of the most powerful offices in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key factor in Ye Win Oo&#8217;s selection &#8211; the first intelligence chief to rise to the top &#8211; is his close proximity and loyalty to the outgoing commander,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/pacts-patronage-fear-how-myanmars-junta-chief-holds-power-2026-01-13\/\">Min Aung Hlaing<\/a>, according to six people, including diplomats, analysts and a defector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although he has shed \u200bhis uniform, Min Aung Hlaing is poised to become Myanmar&#8217;s president, following a general election in December and January that was widely derided as a sham \u200bto help the ruling generals retain their grip on power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Min Aung Hlaing has chosen to hand over power to his most trusted \u2060inner circle loyalist,&#8221; said Naung Yoe, a major who defected from the military in 2021 following the coup, which plunged Myanmar into civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naung Yoe and Naing Min \u200bKhant, an analyst at the Institute for Strategy and Policy \u2013 Myanmar think tank, also confirmed Ye Win Oo&#8217;s personal involvement in the arrest of Suu Kyi, the 80-year-old politician \u200bwho the military then tried in secret and jailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;He appointed Ye Win Oo so that he can maintain influence and authority, and continue to dominate the military through someone who listens to him,&#8221; said Naung Yoe, referring to Min Aung Hlaing, who will need the military&#8217;s assistance and protection as he transitions to a political role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Reuters) March 31 &#8211; When Myanmar&#8217;s military ousted a democratically elected government in a dawn coup on February 1, 2021, Ye Win Oo led the contingent of troops that arrested Nobel \u200bPeace Prize winner and the country&#8217;s then leader Aung San Suu Kyi. On Monday, the 60-year-old general was appointed the commander-in-chief of Myanmar&#8217;s military, which has dominated \u200cdomestic politics for decades, catapulting the former spymaster into one of the most powerful offices in the country. The key factor in Ye Win Oo&#8217;s selection &#8211; the first intelligence chief to rise to the top &#8211; is his close proximity and&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56018,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56016\/revisions\/56018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}