North Korea and Belarus yesterday signed a “friendship and cooperation” treaty after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave a lavish welcome to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on his maiden visit.
Besides supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine — about 2,000 North Korean soldiers are thought to have died — both nations are under Western sanctions and are accused of gross human rights violations. The two men met last year in China.
“In the modern realities of global transformation — at a time when the world’s major powers openly ignore and violate the norms of international law — independent countries must cooperate more closely and consolidate their efforts aimed at protecting their sovereignty and improving the well-being of their citizens,” Belarusian state news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as saying.
Photo:Belarusian presidential press service via AFP
“We oppose the illegitimate pressure on Belarus from the West and express our support and understanding for the measures taken by the leadership of Belarus aimed at ensuring social and political stability and economic development,” Belta quoted Kim as saying.
Earlier Belta showed Kim and Lukashenko hugging at a lavish welcome program on Wednesday at the start of the two-day visit involving an artillery salute and goose-stepping soldiers before a large flag-waving crowd.
Lukashenko visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun — where Kim’s embalmed father and grandfather lie in state — to pay his respects, flanked by top North Korean officials, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Lukashenko, 71, who has ruled Belarus since 1994 and has swung firmly behind Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, also laid a bouquet on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Belarus and North Korea are part of a push driven by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Putin to create what they call a “multipolar world” to challenge Western hegemony.
They have provided Moscow assistance in its Ukraine war, with Minsk serving as a launchpad for the invasion and Moscow stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
South Korean and Western intelligence agencies have estimated that the North has sent thousands of soldiers to Russia, primarily to the Kursk region, along with artillery shells, missiles and rocket systems.
Russia and North Korea in 2024 signed a strategic partnership agreement that obliges either side to provide “military and other assistance” should the other be attacked.
Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov said that in addition to the treaty of friendship and cooperation, the two sides would agree to cooperate in an array of fields from agriculture to information.
“Our greatest interest ... is strengthening truly friendly, partnership relations. We have friends here, and they are waiting for us. Just as we await them in Belarus,” he told Belta.
Trade between the two countries is “modest,” but areas for growth include Belarus exporting pharmaceutical products and food to North Korea, Ryzhenkov said.
“Meanwhile, various cosmetic products, which are renowned for their quality and affordable prices, can be imported from the DPRK,” he added, using the initials of the North’s official name.
The visit is intended to “show solidarity” among nations opposed to the Western order, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses researcher Lee Ho-ryung said.
“Kim will try to use the occasion to raise its diplomatic profile and strengthen solidarity among the so-called anti-Western bloc,” she said.
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