DPRK is trying to expand cooperation with Belarus

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Song Hee told her Belarusian counterpart, Maxim Ryzhenkov, who is on a visit to Pyongyang, that the DPRK is seeking to comprehensively expand relations with Belarus.

Experts suggest that the development of trilateral cooperation between the DPRK, Belarus, and the Russian Federation is aimed at confronting the West.

According to Ukrinform, Yonhap reports this with reference to the North Korean state news agency KCNA.

On Tuesday evening, Choi hosted a banquet to welcome Ryzhenkov, and in her speech she said that the two countries “share common ideals and goals.”

According to her, the North Korean government is determined to “comprehensively expand relations with Belarus and bring them to a new level.”

KCNA does not publish details of the talks between the two top diplomats, but given the deep ties between the DPRK and Belarus and Russia, South Korean experts assume that Ryzhenkov's trip will focus on building trilateral cooperation between the two countries to better counter the West together.

Yonhap recalls that Belarus, led by authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko for more than 30 years, supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is considered one of Russia's most loyal allies. It is also among the countries where North Korea has sent workers in the past in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

“There is a high probability of such trilateral cooperation involving Russia, which could extend to both the economic and military sectors,” said Hyun Seung-soo, a researcher at the Korea Institute of National Unification.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 24/07/2024