Myanmar’s MI and the Kempeitai: a historical footnote

After the 1962 coup in Myanmar, General Ne Win revamped the military intelligence apparatus, creating the powerful Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI/MIS) which expanded beyond gathering information to spying on civilians. While it is believed that Ne Win received intelligence training from the Japanese Kempeitai, evidence suggests he actually studied at the Nakano School under the Imperial Japanese Army’s Second Bureau, leading to confusion about the origins of Myanmar’s intelligence organization. Despite claims linking Myanmar’s intelligence agency to the Kempeitai, it appears that the Burmese military received training from the IJA’s intelligence corps, blurring the true roots of the country’s military intelligence establishment.

Full Article