[5] Under KNUP influence, the KNU was centralised, the KNLA was reorganised along Maoist lines, and agricultural cooperatives were created in some KNU-controlled villages.

Ideological and strategic disagreement precipitated the breaking away of senior figure Tha Hmwe in April 1963, with approximately 400 men, to found the Karen Revolutionary Council (KRC).

These areas, at some distance from KNUP strength in the Irrawaddy Delta, had come under the sway of S'gaw Karen figures, especially commanders Shwe Hser and Bo Mya.

In 1966, Bo Mya – then head of the Karen Armed Force's Eastern Division – seized control of the Dawna Range and much of the Thai border region and ordered KNUP cadres to leave his territory.

[5] In 1967, Mahn Ba Zan and four other senior KNUP officials reconciled with Bo Mya, forming the Karen National Unity Front (KNUF).

For many years, the KNU was able to fund its activities by controlling black market trade across the border with Thailand, and through local taxation[citation needed].

[9] Padoh Mahn Sha La Phan, the secretary-general of the union was shot dead in his home in Mae Sot, Thailand, on 14 February 2008, possibly by soldiers of the DKBA.

[15] In January 2012, Myanmar's military-backed civilian government signed a ceasefire deal with the KNU in Hpa-an, the capital of eastern Kayin State.

[16] In March 2012, a senior political leader of KNU, P'doh Mahn Nyein Maung, was found guilty of high treason under the Illegal Association Act, for his involvement with the Karen rebellion and sentenced to 20 years.

At the Law Khee Lah Conference, it was agreed that the NCCT had the mandate to discuss and change the document technically, except at the policy level.

When the final document was ready, the respective ethnic organisation leaders decided and discussed with the Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC) on the nationwide ceasefire.

On 27 March 2021, KNU Brigade 5 overran a Myanmar Army base near the Thai border, killing ten soldiers including a deputy battalion commander.

[27] The Kawthoolei Army has since banded with two resistance units, the Venom Commando and the Lion Battalion, both of which had previously been supervised by the KNLA's Brigade 6.

As the District Chairmen and Brigade Commanders are elected at local levels, they are automatically appointed as Central Standing Committee Members.

In addition, elected Central Standing Committee members would provide the ministers for 14 Departments including Culture, Defence, Education, Forestry, Foreign Affairs, Health, and Mining.