Win Aung was a Burmese

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 military officer and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1998 until 2004.

Win Aung was born in Dawei

Dawei

-Transport:Only recently Dawei was connected to the rest of Myanmar by road and rail. There are plans to construct a deepwater port in Dawei. In November 2010, the Myanmar Port Authority signed a USD $8.6 billion deal with Italian-Thai Development to develop a deep sea port at Dawei...

 (formerly Tavoy), Tanintharyi Division

Tanintharyi Division

Tanintharyi Region , is an administrative region of Myanmar, covering the long narrow southern part of the country on the Kra Isthmus. It borders with the Andaman Sea to the west and with the Tenasserim Hills, beyond which lies Thailand, to the east. To the north is the Mon State. The capital of...

 in 1944. Win Aung would later join the armed forces, where he would serve as a military intelligence officer.

Win Aung served as an ambassador to Germany and the UK until he was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 1998. During his tenure as foreign minister, he often bore the brunt of international criticism on many issues, especially for his government's repression of political dissidents such as Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

, while visiting foreign nations. In September 2004, he was dismissed from his post, along with several other ministers, following a purge of members of the Military Intelligence faction of the State Peace and Development Council

State Peace and Development Council

The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma , which seized power in 1988. On 30 March 2011, Senior General Than Shwe signed a decree to officially dissolve the Council....

.

Win Aung was a close associate of former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt

Khin Nyunt

General Khin Nyunt is an officer and politician in Myanmar. Khin Nyunt is of Burmese Chinese descent. He held the office of Chief of Intelligence and was Prime Minister from 25 August 2003 until 18 October 2004. He is married to Khin Win Shwe, a medical doctor, and father to a daughter, Thin Le Le...

, who was among those purged in September 2004. Following his dismissal, Win Aung was arrested and sent to the notorious Insein Prison

Insein Prison

Insein Prison is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon , the old capital of Myanmar. It is run by the military junta of Myanmar, the State Peace and Development Council, and used largely to repress political dissidents....

. He died there on 4 November 2009 at the age of 65. At the time of his death, he was the only former Burmese government minister to be imprisoned.