Bhum from Burma
From Mr Michael Vestey Sir: I might be able to shed some light on the identity of General Lee Bhum Suk. Matthew Parris is mistaken in thinking that he was Vietnamese (Another voice, 19 February) although your correspondent Mr Airth (Letters, 4 March) might be correct in identifying him as a South Korean diplo- mat in the late Fifties and early Sixties. However, I believe the gentleman referred to by Mr Parris was a Burmese foreign min- ister in the Eighties. I first noticed his name during the normally tedious daily 12.30 p.m. briefing at the Foreign Office when I was a member of the BBC's diplomatic staff. Mr Lee Bhum Suk was listed as visiting a For- eign Office minister for talks and, sadly, the only person trying to control his sniggering among the assembled earnest foreign and diplomatic correspondents was me.
Michael Vestey
Farnham, Dorset
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